...and more stringing...

We had two ways of making the loops which attach to the hitchpins. One way involved using the simple machine below. One person would crank the handle (out of view) and the other person would form the loop.











Most of the builders preferred the one-person method. Here, a tuning hammer which has hook in the center is used. The wire heading out of the photo to the left is anchored to our workbench, and the other end is held securely with a pair of pliers. By turning the tuning hammer, and keeping the tension equal in all directions, one person can make perfect loops.













Here is an action photo of a wrestpin being hammered in. We used a wooden block held next to the wrestpin to gauge how deep to drive the pins. This way they will all look uniform.

You can see the completed 4' choir of strings in the foreground.
















We had people stringing the treble as well as the bass at the same time, so things got a bit crowded. This photo shows some crossed wires.














Here we have drilling, pinning, and stringing. The 4' has been completely pinned, and we even tuned an octave's worth of notes.