TOTALLY BEAUTIFUL. however, the sound bite can't be heard, maybe send another way? Thanks for posting so much on this dulcimer as it taught me a lot too about restoration of old dulcimers. aloha, irene
Thanks for the recommendations. I'll look into those. Our local music store didn't have any electronic metronomes. So for now I'll try the apps.
I'm using Soundbrenner on an Android phone at present (just the free app not the gadgets that can go with it). It is OK and easy to use.
Most importantly, I searched for one with a 'tap' button - and I use that all the time to set the speed. It means I can hum a tune and easily tap in exactly the speed I want to play it at.
It's finally back together - with no glue on the nut or bridge and new strings. I'm really happy with the results.
I've attached an 'after' picture also of the whole instrument, and a pretty rough around the edges sound sample.
I'm grateful to everyone for the sound advice (pun intended) and the encouraging words. This has been a good experience.
I use two. Both free. MetroTimer and Pro Metronome. Why two? Because I am lazy. The MetroTimer is always left in 4/4, Pro Metronome is always left in 6/8. I play a lot of Irish music but it takes several keystrokes to convert either metronome from 4/4 to 6/8. If you really want to use just one Pro Metronome seems easier to adjust and set up. I often convert it to 9/8 for slip jigs and hop jigs. I may simply think it is easier because I change it more. MetroTimer has been in 4/4 from day one.
MertoTimer has an easier timing function, if you want to set it for two minutes or three minutes or whatever. That might be more useful for a drummer. Pro Metronome does have a timer and it works, it simply takes a couple more keystrokes to invoke it.
Oh my goodness I thought I was the only one who's pets react to playing an instrument.It is very odd I have two cats one loves music the other one loathes it.I also play Piano and accordion.When I play any of those instruments along with the Mountain Dulcimer my one cat goes crazy to the point of my having to stop playing.
We got him as a kitten from the pound about 7 years ago he was badly abused.I am wondering if his previous owner played an instrument bringing back bad memories for him causing him to act this way.Or maybe my playing is really bad...gee..never thought of that. lol
@davesterino Vizsla is sophisticated! :)
I love my waiter's tray stand! I like to stand and play and the tall one is a comfortable height for me. Like Ken said mine will hold two dulcimers which is nice when you like a couple tuned to different keys. Another reason is underneath makes a good place for your case or another instrument.
Our vizsla barks, growls, and gives me some distance when I play ukulele or penny whistle. She doesn't seem to mind at all when I play dulcimer though!
You did a great job making a new fine tuner!!
I too personally suggest you not use any glue on the nut or bridge when putting them back in. As long as you don't remove all strings at once, you'll never have to worry about them moving around or getting lost. String pressure hold them in beautifully. It's handy to be able to easily remove them if needed, without the risk of them cracking due to stubborn old glue.
"Best" is what works for you. There are a number of stands, as Dusty mentions. I found a waiter's tray table works 'best' for me. There are several height sizes available, you can usually find them locally at restaurant supply houses, and they don't have premium prices usually associated with niche goods.
As far as securing the dulcimer, it will depend on the stand, how firmly it holds the instrument in place, and how 'active' you are while playing. Some folks need a small bungee or strap or two; some just need a rubber pad. I don't need anything to hold different dulcimers in place; in fact I often have two on the stand for a 'hot swap' of different tunings.
Don, check out this video by @Christine-Shoemaker. She is using a stand by Gary Sager of Prussia Valley Dulcimers. It looks fully adjustable. Something like that would probably be the best option.
Other good options are keyboard stands or even an ironing board.
I would like to stand up more. I’m not an exercise buff.
When you use a stand, how do you secure your dulcimer?
Is a waiters stand best?
Thank you.
David D
Great job on the fine tuners.
James Jones sells a great hard case. Here is the link.
https://www.jamesjonesinstruments.com/appalachian-dulcimers-ac
Personally I would not put any glue on the nut or bridge. String pressure alone will hold them in place. I would not have taken all the strings of at once either, but again, that's just me; I remove and replace one string at a time so that things stay together.
Case -- making a wooden case is easy using 1/4" poplar "hobby wood" from Home Depot or Lowes, or thin plywood. I use simple ballistic nylon straps to hold the lid on mine, rather than mucking about with hinges and thin wood. Bob Gerard, one of the members here, makes beautifully painted wooden cases. A cloth gig bag is also easy to make, or the ultimate protective cloth bags are made by The Dulcimer Bag Lady -- dulcimerbaglady.com
So it turns out i do have two original fine tuners, and managed to make two more this evening. Also picked up some strings at lunch, so hopefully tomorrow I can string it and see how it will sound. My other dulcimer is a bit smaller and I'm curious at this point to compare.
Attached a pic of the tuners (originals on the left), the bridge, and the nut. The nut actually has a spot of glue on it, and I assume it was fastened in when new. I have some titebond original and titebond hide - either would work i suppose to refasten the nut? Or something else?
Great advice on the tuners!
Any suggestions as to a case for this?
Richard- good eyes there! 
My advice is to get one extra button to keep in your case. Might as well if someone is already making them... and I found that if my string breaks at the bridge or tail piece area, the fine tuning button can come off the string and literally fly off across the room. This actually happened to me twice over the years. Now I keep a fine thread threaded through all the buttons' holes and tied in a little loop..it's not very obtrusive and prevents those buttons from 'making a break for freedom'. Otherwise, if you're sitting in the grass somewhere or are someplace playing at night... you may just have to kiss that little wooden button goodbye. 
lolol Never hurts to have a spare!
David D. It looks in your initial pictures like the fine tuner for the bass string is down where the strings curve under the end of the fretboard to anchor. So you may need to only get 2 made to match.
Do you use a metronome app on your phone or an online metronome? What do you recommend? Dulcinina
Dave D, if you or someone you know is good at woodworking, I'd recommend have them create two or three additional little fine tuner beads, to match the single remaining one on your dulcimer's middle string near the tail.
My dulcimer has all 4 beads, and I can tell you that if you have wooden tuning pegs (as you do), these 'fine tuner' beads really do work well to get you to that last little bit of higher or lower tuning on each string. The way Keith made them is so smooth working, and they fit perfectly with this particular style of his dulcimers.
I can't take credit for this. I learned about Howard Feed n Wax from this video by Bing Futch , and Bing credits FOTMD member and luthier extraordinaire David Beede. It sure does wonders for an old instrument, doesn't it?
and what PERFECT F holes. I wonder if he used a scroll saw or a coping saw. Beautiful dulcimer. aloha, irene
Yeah, looks like it made the water spots almost disappear- nice results! Thanks for posting that before/after photo. And thanks Dusty for that wood treatment recommendation.
@pondoro You've made some great-looking ukuleles!
That's pretty significant. Glad it worked for you. I may have to get some for some of my older dulcimers.
So I've uploaded a 'before' and 'after' with just one application of the Howard Feed and Wax. It really helped bring out the cherry.
And it turns out the nut is loose like the bridge, and fits very snugly into a slot at the head.
So these are cigar box ukuleles. Both boxes are more than 40 years old. All wood was cut in America (I cannot vouch for the boxes). The larger one has homemade maple tuning pegs, the smaller one has professionally made tuners.
The walnut on the smaller one was harvested by my father. The maple for the tuning pegs on the larger one came from the flooring of a 1900-ish house. Trying to reproduce what a kid in the 1920's might have made, if he had time, tools and skill but no money.
YES YES....FOTMD folks are truly GRAND!! THANKS on the tip about Howard's Feed n Wax, I've got that on my list to get when I go to town next. aloha, irene
Dave, you've received solid answers to most of your questions. Aren't FOTMD folks grand?
I have one suggestion. If the wood feels dry, it probably is. You might try a product such as Howard's Feed n Wax . You put a tiny bit on a rag and rub it into the wood. Then take another rag, wipe off any excess, and let it sit 20-30 minutes. If the wood is seriously dried out you might need more than a tiny bit since the wood will soak the stuff up. But start with as little as possible. Use it before you put on new strings so you can get to the fretboard, too. My guess is the dulcimer will show its health and happiness by really shining. I use it periodically on all my dulcimers except the one that has a heavy lacquer finish.
Welcome, Pondoro. Sounds like you may play several folk instruments in depth before adding to your Instrument Zoo. I think you will enjoy the dulcimer.
As Strumelia mentioned, there are so many instruments I yearn to play well but it would take several lifetimes. I haven't been able to restrain myself enough to fit that playing well requirement. Fortunately the dulcimer is forgiving of my dabbling. I sometimes say this is what happens when you give a Girl Scout the Dabbler badge. I still am one. Several of us here are. I think you will feel right at home, there's even a forum about Adventures with 'Other's Instruments. Enjoy!
Cool beans, Dave!
Depending on when Keith started doing this as a standard thing, there 'might' be on your dulcimer a tiny hitch pin on the melody string SIDE of the fretboard, about halfway down. Mine has one, but my dulcimer is later, from around 1997 or 98 I think. It was meant for if you want to temporarily switch from a double melody string to a single melody string. You would just loosen the string nearest the edge and pull it down on the side of the fretboard, out of the way, in order to play with just a single melody string for however long you wanted.
I thought it might also be handy if you always play with one melody string- in that if you broke your melody string in the middle of a jam or workshop, you could theoretically have a 'spare' ready to just tighten up and keep playing! 
Me, I personally like the sound of double melody strings, so I never used that pin that Keith had installed on my dulcimer.
Thanks for all the help so far!
Poor choice of words on my part, as the bridge does seat nicely in the slot with no wobble. I was mainly concerned that it was at one time glued in and had come loose. I'm really impressed by the precision of the fit after all of these years (and the construction of the instrument for that matter - wow!).
Your comments on the stringing configurations were especially helpful, especially if I can set this up as a three string for noter/drone. I've been learning my way through Jean Ritchie's book and was struggling with the prospect of changing modes on a four string with wooden pegs. I hadn't thought of just using three strings...
I, too, have a KYoung teardrop-- mine was built in'77. Keith made wonderful instruments! The wooden tuning beads work nicely to make fine tuning adjustments.
Keith's bridges have a SLOT into which they fit nicely. This is confirmed in the photos. In one respect, if they are not glued, they can be called 'floating' since they can be removed once all strings are off.
However, talk about moving or determining the location of a 'floating' bridge is just not applicable here. Keith located the deep bridge slot exactly where it needs to be to be in tune with the fret placements, and the bridge drops into that slot. No need to figure out where to put the bridge.
Keith typically provided bridge and nut string slots that could be used to accommodate various ways of stringing, such as: Four equidistant strings. Three strings with a bass, a middle, and a single melody string. And 4 strings using bass, middle and a pair of melody strings. You can see this string slot choices setup provided by Keith in your photos.
BTW If you choose to play with a noter and a single melody string, I recommend using the melody string slot closest to the edge of the fingerboard, which would give just a bit of extra space between the melody string and the middle string- this helps in avoding bumping into the middle string with one's noter.
Your Young teardrop is very much like mine (you can see mine in the logo at the top of this site). You've got yourself a real beauty, a treasure! It will become more valuable with time if you don't make structural changes to it. Enjoy that wonderful dulcimer!
The notches on the nut are for setting the dulcimer up in one of two ways: 1st way - four equidistant string set-up or 2nd way - bass, middle, and double melody string set-up.
Keith put the wooden bead fine tuners on all of the strings.
A standard set of dulcimer strings should work just fine. Bass string .020-.022, Middle string .012-.014, and Melody strings .010-.012.
Once you have located the correct position for the bridge utilizing the method give by Ken Hulme, you can mark the correct position on the fret board so it can easily be relocated if it shifts position.
Strings are dependent on the Vibrating String Length (nut to bridge distance) and the open tuning you want for the strings -- DAA, DAd, CGG, etc.
You can certainly leave things alone for now and see how it shakes out. I don't remember what finish Keith used on his dulcimers, but someone here will know. Probably linseed oil, but don't quote me on that.
For now, clean with a water-damp cloth.
With a floating bridge, never remove all the strings at once. Remove and replace one at a time to keep the bridge in place. If it sounds really "off" once you've tuned it, it's possible the bridge has been nudged. Take the distance from the inside edge of the nut to the top of the 7th fret, double that, and that's where the inside edge of the bridge goes, at least to start. The intonation can be tweaked slightly from there.
Welcome Pondoro! I've been playing old time American and Anglo-Scottish folk tunes on the dulcimer for forty years (one of these days I'll get it right!)
Here's an article I wrote a number of years back called I Just Got A Dulcimer, Now What? It's an illustrated glossary of dulcimer terms (so we all speak the same lingo); plus answers to many beginner questions about tuning, playing, care and feeding of your new acquisition.
Hi Pondoro! What a wonderful Christmas present! The dulcimer (in my book) is the best instrument in the world for Christmas songs and folk music! Enjoy
Baby-O Audio recording 2018-11-02.mp3 - 2.6MB
