I've used a cord of ebony adding custom tips to custom rifle forends. It comes in consistancy from gummed eraser to cat can't scratch it. Thanks on the tip for pen blanks. That would be an excellent source and would take a minimal amount of shaping.
Doesn't work worth a darn on my Ebony, Lignum Vitae or Snakewood noters
But then they're naturally 'compressed'.
If you don't have a bench vice as Sam suggests, agood source for very HARD wood for noters is the listings for Pen Blanks on Ebay. The blanks are about 3/4" square and 5" long. It's a good way to get small bits of some really exotic and beautiful woods without paying a fortune for a whole plank.
Thanks for the information, Sam! I may need to try this on a noter or two whose wood isn't very hard.
Woods come in a wide variety of hardness. If your preference is for harder wood and your favorite noter isn't quite there, you may be able to improve its density at the tip by compressing it. This requires some practice or you may crush the wood instead of compressing it. I use a small shop vice and only squeeze about one half inch of the tip of my noters. I tighten the vise on them gently and try to never over tighten. I make my own noters so it's not a great loss if I go too far. This will work on round noters, but then you may have trouble turning it so that the compressed portion addresses the string(s) of your dulcimer. Done properly, you can even see the results. The wood will look shiny where you've compression hardened it. This practice will not only give a little more 'ring' to the sound of your strings, it will lessen wear just a little. The wood won't groove as badly as quickly if it is harder. Try this on some scrap. It may be something you like.
Again, I would caution you NOT to do this on your favorite wooden noter for your first attempt. Try this several times on scrap or old discarded noters to develop a 'feel' for it.
