[Daren]

Of course, most of us are used to playing melodicas with plastic keys, but I’ve been looking at some old harpsichords to find inspiration for my next hand built instrument.

There’s some beauties out there – here’s some examples of what I’ve seen around the net:

[Daren]

The great thing about melodicas is that everything is in miniature. So you only need very small amounts of wood for your keyboard. I chose 2 types of ebony, neither of which are endangered. Demand is highest for pure black ebony (as traditionally seen on piano keys), but I prefer the more colourful examples, which have just the same hardness and strength

Here’s the raw materials. This will soon be a keyboard!

[Melodica-Me]

Nice selection, what is the thickness of your veneer? I finished the Gaboon with black shoe polish, it leaves a beautiful luster like an old piano 🙂 great material to mill and tap.

[Daren]

It’s 3.5mm, quite chunky. I don’t want my keys wearing down!

[Melodica-Me]

I think you are going to get a lot of miles out of 3.5 MM. Is that about double the thickness of the piano veneers you used last time?. By the way, what materials did you use for the reeds and plates you had made?

[Author]

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