LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

Has anyone made a marimba?

2K views 20 replies 9 participants last post by  wormil 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Looking for key length and resonator lengths and surprisingly, it seems to be a well kept secret. Just curious if anyone has done any research out there on this.
 
#8 ·
I make all kinds of weird stuff. Yes, I made a Marimba about 30 years ago. Several of them. The resonator tubes didn't require much work as far as tuning. The bars can get interesting. You will be sanding the backs and a small mistake can throw off the bar. But you'll be sanding a lot off of many of them. The bars don't have to be rosewood. I used oak and it sounded fine. The bars get really concave on the back (underside). Run felt on the top edges of your stretchers (where the bars sit), then pegs to keep the bars lined up (they need to be very loose), then a piece of exercise band (like surgical tubing) over each peg to cushion the bar and keep it from striking the stretcher, then run your cord through each bar.

When you tighten the cord it should lift the bars just barely off the rubber tubing but not off the peg.

And there ya have it! hehehe….
 
#9 ·
Wow…when I first printed out that PDF, I thought to myself, here's a great project for my kingwood. Then I got to looking at all the dimensions and how much kingwood I would chew up, and put it away. Then I read that oak works, and now it might be out and about again! If I can squeeze it in amongst all my other things, that is.
 
#14 ·
" I used oak and it sounded fine"

That is an interesting comment Charlie. I kinda gather that any hard and dense wood might work. I have always contemplated building a marimba and I even remember seeing that article when I was a kid reading Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, and Science and Mechanics magazines in the 1950s. The classic wood has always been Brazilian rosewood, but today that would cost a fortune! I guess the way to tell would be to make one bar in mid range from different woods, tune them, and listen. It would be an interesting experiment.

Planeman
 
#15 ·
If you want to try different woods for the bars, just make a test stand with a single resonator tube. Then you can cut some bars out of whatever woods are readily available to you and give 'em a try.

Marcus, I've seen lots of spellings for didgeridoo before. I just chose one that looked easy to remember. Aboriginal folks didn't spell it. They just spoke it. It was us white people that had to define it with a spelling and we screwed that up … heheheh.

Weird musical instruments….. I once made a Shaman's fiddle out of a horse skull.
Most recently I was shown by the last remaining Lakota Sioux flute maker how to make wooden flutes in the style of his ancestors. I've made a few flutes and have enough aromatic cedar blanks to make about 6 or 8 more.

Most of this stuff takes up far less space than a marimba. :)
 
#16 ·
I actually scored a great deal on some lumber in an auction, about 20bd ft of spanish cedar and what was just listed as "lumber" for about $17. The lumber ended up being one chunk of about 9/4 padauk, about 15 bd ft of it. I had always heard that padauk worked pretty well for marimbas and I have a 2 year old…that seemed like a good combo and a reason to try my hand at music making.
 
#17 ·
You can use any kind of wood but it does make a big difference in tone. Woods like rosewood or padauk ring like a bell while others like oak are duller. When picking out some padauk for xylophone keys I took along a 'mallet' made from a dowel and maple ball to tap pieces until I found a really nice sound.
 
#18 ·
I'm pretty much such with the padauk I have. Since this is a side "fun" project, I'm looking to spend as little add possible.

The stock is large enough that I think I can make all keys either quarter or flat sawn. Does anyone know if there is a preferred method?
 
#21 · (Edited by Moderator)
Marcus, we tapped on both quarter and flat sawn and ended up using flat sawn. I can't remember if it rang better or just made no difference. Also, we didn't bother making the keys concave on the bottom but just a square cut out, only because I don't own a bandsaw. I cut the keys to length, identified the nodes, made a crosscut approx 2/3 deep on each end with the table saw, popped out the waste with a chisel, then used chisels and sandpaper to get the correct tuning.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top