You got that right Richard. My time in the Coast Guard made some life changing habits for me as well.
Strumella, My dad used to say, "everything has a place and everything in it's place". OH! he had the messiest shop I ever saw.
Sorry to hear about your wife. Hopefully she's on the mend and back to normal. Prioritize is the key. You did well. Many of my projects a wife (working on 62 years) related. Organization is another important focus. There have been times that finding a tool or material would take longer than the job I need it for. I spend much of my time between jobs to organize the shop. Yes, if I am working on a project and all of a sudden I look up and it's "dark 30" I leave things where they are knowing I'll be back tomorrow. A retirees motto, "tomorrow's another day" (because everyday is Saturday).
About a year ago I heard a group playing Fancy Gap Breakdown. I sniffed around and heard several other groups play it and figured I needed to learn it. While gaining improvement, I happened across another piece called "Black Mountain Rag". Both of these pieces are not just "ear candy" but fun to learn and fun to play. At 83 years old I mentioned starting guitar lessons. I'm slowly getting better on finger positions and strum patterns. Thanks to what I've learned on the dulcimer, some of the guitar techniques came rather quickly.
I love life
Thanks Ken, My Dither project has taken a back seat for a while. I'm waiting for some wood to dry out before making the panels. Between the kids and wife I get multiple projects going at once (thus the "shopdad" handle). I'm in the process of some major shop changes. It's time to do some clear outs, deep cleaning and rearranging. Even though I do most of the dirty work on the outside workbench, the inside gets pretty bad.
Right now it's on the dinning room wall. As soon as I get the hooks solid enough on the outside wall, in the courtyard, it will hang out there. It has several coats of poly so the weather shouldn't be too rough on it. Hanging on the wall won't let it turn in the wind but I will change it occasionally myself. It's solid enough to be around long after me.
The Betsey Ross 250 anniversary flag, Just finished in time before the end of July. The torch-burned center piece makes it appear old and tattered. The solution for a decision, 250 or USA.
That's a cool story. I grafted an avocado tree. I kept two and gave one to a friend. His grew nicely with plenty of fruit. Mine didn't take and became nice shade trees. A hurricane took them out before I could get another graft. Yes, it's great to grow your own as long as a person doesn't add up all the spray, fertilizer, and special soil . You probably do organic too. It's still worth it though.
Hello dusty, I'm just catching up on some past posts. I miss FOTMD and get busy with so many other things. I haven't heard of the expression either (two in a hill) but I know what he feels like. My wife and I have a raised garden. In central Florida, It's a serious task. I tried corn last year and wound up with mini ears the size of a small pickle. However, There's nothing like walking out to the garden and picking a tomato or green pepper. My bananas, grapes and mulberries are special and don't require much farming, they just grow.
I usually enjoy making something in my shop to express or celebrate any occasion. I made a Betsey Ross flag for the 250th celebration.
Oops! its a video too large to attach. I'll send pics
I'm in central Florida, it's hot. A normal day is upper 90's around 2 or 3 PM then cools off into the low 90's. That's a perfect set up for afternoon storms. We have two yellow labs and I try to explain to them how fortunate they are living in the AC. They just stare at me and wag. So far, there has been no 80 degree mornings. That's typical for us in the AM but only mid to upper70's. Around here the common statement is "stay cool" instead of "good bye or see you later".
Me, looking for fall
That's awesome. What kind of wood did you use? I posted a picture an original instrument which was later described as a Scheitholt. I thought it was about six feet until Ken pointed out it was sitting on a foot stool. Later, some of the similar instruments with the two strings were identified as zithers. If I have my facts straight. I am waiting for some of my wood to dry to build a zitter with the help of all who have assisted me in gathering info. I am anxious to start but the wood isn't as anxious, I guess.
LOL John. Almost as long as the car. AI brings a lot of smiles.
Thankyou John, Hats off to your dad and I salute him for his courage. Yes, and I believe the best is yet to come
You guys are way ahead of me. John K. I was just kidding about the 6 ft. dulcimer. That picture of an 8ft. dulcimer made my day. Thanks for sharing.
Happy 4th to all FOTMD friends. I'm loving the comments. Let's keep them going. God Bless America and America the beautiful sound great on my Cedar Creek dulcimer. Anyone else playing patriotic music today? In 1976 we only had two kids at that time. My wife and I just celebrated 61 years of marriage. Blessed to raise my 4 kids in freedom. I'm a US Coast Guard veteran and proud to serve this great land.
John, I looked on that site. That's a good price for strings. Unless I start making 6 ft. VSL dulcimers, it would last me a lifetime. 
Yes, I have used Folkcraft also. I use them for tuners as well. Great people to work with also.
I use Strings by Mail. Always had rapid, reliable service. All brand name strings for any instrument.
Kevin, that's very interesting. I'm anxious to read the up coming relies. I remember the first dulcimer I ever saw was at Disney Village in Orlando. that was in the early 70's. I wish I paid more attention to the material used of those that were on sale.
Dusty, do I see a trip to Italy for some Norway lumber in the near future? If the violins sell for $23M it seems you could ask a measly $1M for a new dulcimer made from the same wood. I'll stick to teak, oak or cherry for mine since I have a nice supply of each.
That growth pattern is unique. I'm going to experiment with some of my own wood. My next one will be some New Zealand Pine. Not sure why they call it pine. It is very dense wood with no sap. Dries nice and clean. The grain pattern is beautiful.
OK, I see it on there now. I was just there looking for a way to do paste, looks like you beat me to it. Thanks, Strumelia, for the suggestion. Maybe there are some that have built them and can toss in some suggestions or even need some assistance.
Here are my plans for the Scheitholt or Zither, of course, not to scale. Let me know if you see any changes I need to make. as it's easy to change. I did it all on "Paint Brush".
Good morning Ken. I'm back with some Q's about your Zitter build. I am looking at the pics you posted and I have a few design questions. It's not my intention to make one just like yours but I do want to keep it as authentic as possible.
1. Are 5 strings typical or a personal choice? I am finding several models with various number of strings.
2, I see the tuners are straight peg and not reared, are the unfretted strings tuned like a dulcimer or all the same? I guess that would make them all drone strings.
3. I see the tuners are located at the end of the fret board and not on the custom head stock. Is that typical or can I make mine part of the head stock. I believe this design would be considered a "chordophone" style. Some of the models I find have multiple strings, some fretted and some not. Some don't even have a head stock at all.
4. Did you add any interior braces? With the small sound box I figured braces may affect the resonance. I could use just some curfer moldings on top and bottom of top and lower panels.
5. I am finding different length and width measurements. Can I assume that is also the builders choice?
I will attach a design drawing for you to view and let me know if it is close enough to call it a Zitter, Scheitholt
Yes, I read that the other day. Great article and full of interesting facts. It appears you put a lot of time in research.
Sure, that would be great. I may add a few ideas of my own to personalize the plans if that's ok too. Email sent to your private message.
I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day with friends and family. I thought I would have some string time but I was in charge of the smoker. This is a great thread to follow. I get to express my lack of knowledge and gather a lot of smarts from others. Here's to a fresh beginning to DAA tuning
Ken, I will be working on plans for a Scheitold. I will pass it on to you before going into the build since you have already built one, if that's OK.
Walley, Strumelie, John, thanks for the input also. Lets keep this thread strumming. 
Humm! I like that too. Even slot the wood and use the same Teak wood as the fret board. OOPs! here I go again. The BCRC ("bic cap reverse capo") is a good antidote for my Dulcimer Acquisition Syndrome.
Well, that's simpler than what I was about to do. I was going to turn a piece on my lathe and flatten the bottom to get the exact height I need. Maybe I'm over killing it like I have a tendency to do at times.
Wow! this is another reason I love this Site. It's 6:30 AM and I have put this old brain in a scramble already. Here's my plan, Ken, All the different tunings you mentioned brings me to change my home made tear drop to CGG. I changed it from DAD a while back because It's too high for my bass voice to sing. I play all three strings on several of the songs I play and now, with CGG, I find more variation from the melody to the bass (but less from harmony to bass)
Strumelia, What a great post on the advantages of DAA. I am familiar with the modes playing guitar. (started playing late in life with that too 
). Since we're skinning cats, I too, will have some fun with the "false nut" suggestion. Obviously it should be just a hair higher than the permanent nut. I have to admit, at 6:30 AM I had to read some of it several times between sips of coffee. I have saved the post in my Music folder as I am sure I will refer to it often.
Ken, you are fortunate to have groups to join, I have tried to get a few folks around here in Central Florida. The closest group has fallen apart, the others are an hour away. My guitar friends would have started earlier but the guitar wouldn't fit in their crib.
What's the advantage of DAA rather than DAD? It seems it would loose some tone variation when using the bass string. Never tried it, Hummm! I could tune the Hughes to DAA and see what it sounds like.
I read that note in the article but it didn't make sense to me. So if I understand it correctly, the hook holds the string down on the fret as a continual note change and only that string is raised. Oh! my real name is Paul.
At present, I am busy making a John Deere tractor for the wife's doll house. They (daughter) have a collection of old stores and shops with a lot of stuff in them. A whole new story in itself but unrelated to dulcimers.
The Scheitholt article is very interesting (log, fire wood) I guess that means a person could use what ever is at hand for the material. . From the pic of several instruments you singled out #8. From the measurement at the lower/left the instrument must be about 48". Your is made from pine with 4 strings. I'm assuming you made the staple frets. pretty cool.
Number 1 looks very interesting (longest one in the pic). It appears to be about 7 ft. Looks like another easy build except for the string arrangement. That may be difficult to set up unless there is a good diagram somewhere. That would not be good if it turns out to be a "piece of junk" (not sure of the German translation for that)
So what appears to be the fret board is actually the sound box or body. The frets appear to be staples as are the originals from what I read. Nice job on the tuners. What kind of wood did you use? I'm thinking it may sound similar to my strum sticks since there isn't much reverberation in the small box. Volume-wise, my strum stick is probably have that size box but I made the sound hole larger.
I saved the pic in my "Music File" for future reference if that's OK.
Hey John, Ha!, good point about the move. She may want to add more space to her craft work area. There goes my "dul- ci-more space.
Hey Ken, pictures would be great. I am especially interested in the zithers and the scheitholt, (Wow, spell check didn't like those words at all). Since I am not familiar with those instruments I am on my way to Google for some education.
It appears the fret board is similar to a dulcimer without any 1/2 frets on the Scheithold. Only one or two strings are fretted as the rest a drones. When it's tuned, are all the unfretted strings tuned alike? Looks simple to build, I may make that my next project, but I may need a go-to for some info
The Zither looks complicated, I have played on a Hammered dulcimer before and the zither looks similar.
I believe you may have some FolkCraft dulcimers in your collection too.
I only have 5 and have a couple favorites when I take a trip or even play at home. I can't imagine trying to decide which one to take or play from a large collection. Sometimes I like to take a strum stick for accompaniment. They sound like banjos, in a way, but much easier to play.
I have to ask, which ones are your favorites?
23? wow! I will save this post to show my wife the next time I make or purchase another one. In the meantime I will consider making plans to build an addition to the den.
Here it is, I thought I dumped it. One can hardly refer to this one as a "Lap Instrument"
Ken, a while I posted a picture of a very large lady holding an instrument. the site I was following labeled it Dulcimer. Yes, a far cry from what we think of today.
Ha! love all the comments. Yes, John, clear out some space. Ken, Walley, Now you've done it, every time I tune my instruments I will think "Directly About Diatonic".
I believe DAS is Dulcimer Addiction Syndrome or something like that. I believe there are many acronyms out there for most every thing. I am a fossil hunting guide and when someone brings a rock for an identity check I tell them is a "leaverite", which means, "leave'er right there". There are a multitude of instruments out there in attics, storage sheds and places not conducive for the delicate construction. A "card carrying" DAS keeps a sharp eye out for them.
