Logbook

Fall 2010 - newest update at the top.

This log excludes the work done under the summer holiday. Sadly it lacks some details before the 7th of October. (I have only added the important days, that I can remember before this date.)

31st of December: Today I have worked a great deal with the neck, I have also made the knobs for the potentiometers.

30th of December: Today I spent some time updating this homepage with new pictures, I have also continued with the essay and I am now finished with the theoretical part. I have to order piezos from another place than farnell due to some problems...

29th of December: Today I have worked with the essay, the nine first pages are now finished. I have also bought a package of hole cutters, which will be used for the knobs.

28th of December: I have glued the extra space to the neck and continued working with the neck and the body. I have also started trying to make a template out of the pickguard.

27th of December: Today I have used sandpaper on both the body and on the neck, it is slowly improving...

26th of December: Today I have worked mostly with the neck, I also tested if the neck could stand the pressure from the strings. I have also checked the weight of the instrument, and it is somewhere between 3,0 and 3,6 kilos.

25th of December: Today I have updated the progress a bit.

24th of December: Today I have removed the neck after having left it to dry since the 22nd. The neck looks fine and the location of the head is great.

23rd of December: Today I tested the template for the cavity cover that I made earlier, I have also increased the size of the hole to the socket.

22nd of December: Today I have glued the head to the neck. I have also ordered some piezos from Farnell, on top of this I have also started looking into making my own knobs; but I will buy some new tools for this, otherwise the dimension of the knob will be a bit to big.

21st of December: Today I successfully removed the two last screws, I have also started looking into coloring the screws...

19th of December: Today I successfully removed one of the screws, but I still got two to go. I have also started looking into ordering a fretsaw for the fretboard.

18th of December: Today I found screws small enough to use for the fastening of the tuning pegs, but I they break even though I have predrilled the holes. So I will have to try to remove them...

17th of December: Today I spent a great deal of time writing the essay, in total there is now over 10 pages.

15th of December: Today I have found a replacement screw to the tuning pegs, I took it from an old Apple Titanium laptop.

13th of December: Today I used my dremel to train a bit on how to use it, my plan is to engrave my name and the year on the inside of the pickguard... I also realized today that I can use two piezo pickups and one electro pickup, where one of them are located under the bridge and the other one under the pickguard.

12th of December: Today I finally fastened the neck, I have also made a new sketch of the pickguard...

11th of December: Today I rerouted the control cavity, hopefully for the last time, this was a total success. The edges are now straight and it will be much easier to made the cover for it. Also the potentiometers fits perfectly, all I have to do now is to order new ones and drill them down a bit... Apart from this I have also worked some more with the neck and the fastening of it, I believe that I am almost finished with this.

10th of December: Today I drilled the holes for the purpose of fastening the neck, but I will have to work some more with this.

9th of December: Today I tried to get a hold of new screws for the neck, but I had no success with it.

6th of December: Yesterday I got "Mel Bay's Complete Balalaika Book", in it it says that the normal tension per string on a prima balalaika is around 8.3 kilo. If this is the case it should be no problem at all with skipping a truss rod...

5th of December:
Today I have divided the body and the neck into several different sections...

4th of December:
Today I drilled the holes for the tuning pegs, and I grinded the neck and continued with the attachment between the neck and the head... Then I also worked with the body, I increased the length of the neck socket, and I used the router to improve the control cavity at the back...

3rd of December:
Today I worked with the neck, I grinded the head and drilled the hole for the plug between the neck and the head. I also made the plug itself, then I worked with improving the fastening of the neck. Other than that I also used the grinding machine to make the attachment to the neck from the body flat.

2nd of December: Today I grinded the sides of the body, and it is finished now... Pictures will soon be added...

1th of December: Today I tested to record my acoustic balalajka a bit, I also worked a bit with writing tabs. I will be adding them to this homepage soon...

29th of November: Today the neck plate arrived...

26th of November: Today I worked with the neck...

25th of November: Today I continued with both the body and the neck. I routed the space for the electronics and I started on fitting the neck into the body socket.

24th of November: Today I succeeded in removing the broken screw from the body, I also succeeded in attaching the bridge. I used the pillar drill, on the locations for the potentiometers, I also started sanding the body and the neck, though I have to work more with both of them.

23rd of November: Today much have happened, I will add pictures tomorrow. The body has been sawed out, now it "only" weights 3,4 kilos. The fretboard and the pick guard have been planed, the neck and head have also been sawed out...

22th of November: Today I bought an amplifier, (I also got a guitar together with it). You can see it under the budget.

20th of November: Today I reinforced the lines on the body, I also routed the jack holder, so that the whole jack holder with the socket fits perfectly. I have also spent some time looking at what I should write in the essay...

19th of November: Today I succeeded in removing the screw, but as I were attaching another one this also broke. I will wait on removing this until I can use the pillar drill, I will also have to drill before I attach the next screw otherwise the risk is big that yet another one will break. I also drilled the cable canal for the piezo pickup that will be placed below the bridge...

17th of November: Today I started drilling the holes for the knobs, but I will have to wait till the body is ready, as the pillar drill only can reach one of them. I also routed the hole for the socket, and started fastening the bridge. Unfortunately one of the screws for the bridge broke, so I will have to remove this in one way or another.

16th of November: Today the program for the calculator was finished, a drill for 26,90 SEK has also been bought.

15th of November: Today I marked the location for the knobs and for the socket. Other than that I also found a drill that might work when drilling the hole to the piezo pickup... I Have decided to go with four potentiometers, as this will be perfect if I choose three pickups, and if not I could always connect the extra knob so that I get one separate tone button for both of them.

14th of November: Today I finished routing the location for the pickguard, I also cut the neck a bit shorter...

13th of November: Today I continued with the body, I concentrated to get the neck socket ready, and I succeeded with this. Other than this I also marked the neck where the headstock will be added, I will try to saw the neck before week 47. I will first saw it with some distance, then I will be using a grinding machine.

12th of November: Today I started to use the router on the body, I cannot say other that that this step is going to take a lot of time.

10th of November: Today I decided the dimensions of the pickguard, I also transferred them to the real body part...

7th of November: Today I bought three clamps. I also tried to find a saw to a decent price, but I failed on that part...

6th of November: I made some research on the best way to continue the work, I doubt that I will have the opportunity to use the woodwork room until a couple of weeks forward. I have also edited the neck, so that I get an extra bit to make it a bit more smooth where the body meets the neck. I will add some pictures later. I have also tested the router and started to train on some planks of wood. I have still not decided if I will use two single coil pickups or just one, but I can wait with this a bit. I would probably have to build my own covers if I choose to use two, since the bass pickups are a bit to big...

5th of November: Today I have drawn the lines on the real balalajka body and neck. I had to redraw all the lines since they were not completely straight.

4th of November: Today I have finally decided all the dimensions of the balalajka, please take a look both under the work category and under my plan...

3rd of November: Today I have updated the information here on the page. I have also started to plan the body, the location of the pickups and potentiometers etc...

2nd of November: On this day, I have made a new template of the body that covers it completely. I have also completed the head template by drilling three holes for the tuning pegs. I also marked the positions for the neck, and a middle line for the body of the balalajka.

1st of November: Today I made a call to Datainspektionen, to get an answer if it is legal to publish a person's signature. (There is one on one of the receipts). Anyway they said that there should not be any trouble with that...

I have also started making a template of the body. I made one for each side of the body even if it may seem a bit unnecessary, but thanks to that I was sure to get it right. If you have an old balalajka with a missing bridge, it will be much easier, but it is also possible to do as I did. On top of this, I have also made a new wood template of the head.

31th of October: I will try to work as much as possible with the balalajka this week. Today I have started working with the size of the different pieces of the balalajka. I have also decided, which of the body sides that will be the front of the balalajka. On top of the work itself I will try to update the different pages here...

24th of October: Next week I will have holidays, so hopefully I will get much done during that week. This weekend I have sanded the body that was glued together just a couple of days ago. I have also cleared up some space in the room that I will be working in. I will add some pictures of both the working place and the body of the balalajka later this week...

21th of October: I have now decided not to use any diodes for the neck. I have also got an idea for the decoration of the balalajka. I will tell you more about this later, as soon as I know if it is doable. I will probably not have any time to work on the balalajka this following week...

20th of October: Today I have unpacked the fretboard and the fretwire, see pictures under the budget... I have also picked up the wood that I worked with yesterday...

19th of October: I have glued the pieces of wood together, please see "the work" for more details. I will pickup the boards tomorrow...

17th of October: Today I sawed the wood into smaller pieces, so that I can transport them to the woodwork room on Tuesday. Some pictures have been added under "The Work" category. If something goes wrong I also have the possibility to fix it since a piece of the long board have been left over. (1,45m x 150mm x 52mm.)

14th of October: Today I finally bought the wood that is required for it, with exception of the ebony for the fretboard. To see more details go to wood under the budget. I got birk instead of beech but I do not believe that there will be any problem with that.

I also ordered the fretboard and frets earlier today, they will hopefully arrive next week. I am also going to updated the budget further today or tomorrow.

12th of October: Today I have decided what frets I am going to order at GMF, I have decided to order 4 foot of frets to be sure to get enough. (61 * 2 / 25 = 122/25 = 3.66 centimeter for each fret on the balalajka. I believe that I will need this amount since the neck will be a bit wider than on my acoustic). I have also talked with the woodwork teacher and I am going to glue the planks together next Tuesday. I am going to solve the bit with the plane being to small by doing it before I stick the planks together. I will have to be extra careful when pasting them together, but I believe that it should work.

Today I also made a mayor update on the information about the different parts that I have bought so far... I have also tried to find diodes that are smaller but I have not had any luck so far...

11th of October: Unfortunately I do not believe that I will have the possibility to buy the wood until next Friday. It sad that it will be prolonged an extra week, but there is nothing that I can do about it...

10th of October: Today I have researched some more about the frets, in extent I have also improved the "Electric Balalajka" category.

8th of October: I believed that I would get a hold of the wood today, but sadly the store closed much earlier than I believed. I will have to try to buy it next week.

7th of October: I choose to add this category to help people to get an overview of the project process. Other things that happened today were that I discussed this project with Per Nordgren, a local guitar builder, and I got some new ideas which may improve the build a lot.

I have also been in touch with my principal, Urban Wickman, whom I also talked to earlier this week. The conversation were about using the woodwork room that belongs to the school. I also talked with the woodwork teacher, Caroline Nilsson and it will be possible for me to work parallel with other classes. I also learned that the plane that belongs to the woodwork is not big enough, the width is too small. In conclusion, I won't be able to use it when working with the body, although the neck will probably work without any trouble... So I will have to solve the body part in some other way.

6th of October: Today I visited a local carpenter mostly to hear if he had any ideas on where to find a suitable woodwork room here in Härnösand.

2nd of October: Finally I managed to buy a cheap Fender Stratocaster style jack holder, and a 1/4" mono jack socket. I got them both for 21 SEK and they may be seen as all the other.

29th of September: I have met Eva Nordangård who has given me much information about different wood types. I got a bunch more ideas on how to proceed and what to think about when working with this project. I also believe that I have decided what wood types that I will be using in this project. Oak, beech and ebony. Read more under "Budget" and then under "Wood".

25th of September: I got a hold of some really cheap jazz-bass pickups and some electronics. They can be seen under the budget category. (Price 20 SEK + shipping).

21th of September: Today I conducted a few experiments on the bridge and the tuning pegs to confirm whether it is brass or not. (See experiments under "The Work".)

18th of September: I have finished the project plan and it is possible to see it in its complete form.

15th of September: I have added the pictures of my own balalajka, and started to write the information page.

13th of September: I have visited the library in search of books and I loaned the following two, "Matematik & Musik" (by Bengt Ulin) and "Make your own electric guitar" which have been written by Melvyn Hiscook. These books will be a great addition to the earlier ones...
I also got a hold of some extra saddles at Tradera, take a look under the budget category.

10th of September: The design of this homepage is mostly done.

9th of September: I created the "Project Plan" and started drafting it.

5th of September: I have improved the balalajka picture to get it a bit straighter.

3rd of September: I have started thinking of my project plan, it will be added pretty soon. It will be seen under the category "Project Plan".

29th of August: The balalajka picture is done, and some of the categories.

25th of August: Today I registered this webpage address.

In excess of these thing, I have also continuously researched different parts of this project. I have both read up on the electronics and on the mechanic part.