Lignoutron build log

Lignoutron build log

Lignoutron build log

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Lignoutron action

Who doesn't want a self-playing xylophone?  Here's some of the work I did to make this thing a reality.

This image shows the hammers and actuators lined up and all ready to strike those bars!

Original xylophone

Xylophone in suspense!

Xylophone in suspense!

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Xylophone on a new resonator box

One of the early iterations.  I tried suspending the bars above the resonator box with wire, as an "improvement" to the string suspension it had originally.  I learned a whole bunch from this experiment, including the idea that I painted myself into a corner laying the bars out with so little room between them.  I was building the frame from scratch so there was no reason to try to squish it all together.

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Resonator box and bars
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Resonator box and bars
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Initial build-up

Experimental double-hammer version

Experimental double-hammer version

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Double tap

I originally thought it would be fun to give this instrument some amount of registration, so I built it with alternating hard and soft hammers, with the idea of sliding the rail side to side to select which hammer was used.  

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Two stroke

The idea was the hammers were skinny enough so sliding the rail back and forth would allow the actuator to lift only one of the hammers.  I gave up on this idea because I just couldn't imagine having enough force to move that heavy rail fully-populated.

Resonator box

Resonator box

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Resonator box

This is the second iteration of the resonator box.  Initially I started with the concept of my Deagan Orchestrion Xylophone's resonator box and laid-out the bars side by side with a uniform gap between them and used nails for mounting pins on the top and nails between each bar to space them on the bottom.  I essentially painted myself into a corner by making such a tight footprint, and the bars really didn't have much freedom to resonate.  Eventually I took the whole thing apart and started over.  I used the Deagan box more as a template and built the resonator box much more carefully.  I glued piano tuners' temperament cloth to the edges, mounted the bars just at the top and let them hang loose at the bottom.  I gave myself quite a bit more space between the bars and that made the whole thing easier to assemble and regulate.

I built this with box joints for a nicer look and to make up for the angles; I was just too lazy to measure and miter everything so precisely.  I salvaged old organ pipes for the lumber.

 

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Counter bored

Counter bored

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Counter bored

After several different approaches, I think counter-boring the screw holes gives the best results.  Here you can see the counter-bored bars on the left and the normal screw holes on the right.  

And here's the device I just got to ensure a perfectly straight hole with consistent depth:

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Rockler drill guide

This setup is well worth the money, especially with the 25% Fathers' Day discount (thanks Dad!!).

 

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