Nerdy Gurdy Build: Part 1, Sorting all the Pieces

Hi. Welcome back to my channel, The Gentle Flamingo. These next few videos I want to feature an instrument that I've recently fallen in love with, the hurdy-gurdy. You can kind of think of it as a wooden mechanical violin. I first discovered the hurdy-gurdy last year at the Louisiana Renaissance Festival. There was a gentleman who would set up on the steps near where I was working and play the hurdy-gurdy for the fair guests. I fell in love with the sound and promised myself then and there that I was going to figure out how to make one of my own and learn to play it. I started my hurdy-gurdy journey this summer and decided that I was going to get the Ugears model hurdy-gurdy kit just for kicks. And while I did have a lot of fun putting this little plywood princess together, it's definitely not what I would call an instrument. It's more of a toy and a display piece, although it is a pretty good proof of concept and a little bit of a study in what gears can do. Now if you're very, very careful, you can get some sort of sound out of it. Not a good sound, but it is a sound. It's a nice little proof of concept. It's got some very interesting gear work in it, plus it comes with its own little stand. Ta-da! Needless to say, this little beauty was not enough to satisfy my cravings, so after doing a little bit more digging, I found something called the nerdy-gurdy. It's a laser-cut and 3D-printed design by a gentleman over in the Netherlands, Mr. Jaap Brand. I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly. I've probably butchered it. I apologize. But he was gracious enough to make all the files for it available on Thingiverse. At this point in time, I knew someone who could print the 3D-printed parts for me, but I didn't know anybody with a laser cutter, so I got the bright idea that I was going to cut all the wooden parts out by hand. I may be a little crazy, but I did it, and I had a lot of fun. I learned a lot. The results of all of my blundering was this gurdy, which I call a gurdy in the rough. It does function. So far, I only have the two melody strings set up. Those sound okay. The drones and the chanters need, or the trumpets, excuse me, need a little bit more work. I haven't quite gotten them up to speed yet. Probably has something to do with my inexperienced construction, but I did learn a lot, and I will certainly put those skills that I've learned into use. After I finished this project, I discovered a group on Facebook called Nerdy Gurdy Builders, and it put me in touch with a great community of people from both here in the U.S. and beyond. I was also able to get in touch with someone who could laser cut the wooden parts for me and also print the 3D-printed parts. So now, I have the precision pieces, and what I'd like to do in the next few videos is put this thing together, get it all fixed up, and do a little comparison. The first task is to organize all the pieces. I know it looks like a lot when you first get the kit, but it really is pretty easy once you know which pieces make up which part of the gurdy. So let's get started. The most recognizable pieces would be the top and the bottom. The top has the two decorative sound holes and the big rectangular slot for the wheel, and the bottom has the same shape but with holes for the column, inner braces, and rear piece. You also have two identical borders that help reinforce the join between the top, bottom, and sides. Next are the two side pieces with the very many tiny, tiny cuts that help make them flexible enough to bend around the curves. These next two pieces are the two inner braces. One is a single T-shaped part, and the other has two parts that will be glued together. There's also a 3D printed bearing ring that will be attached later. The rear piece has three parts. First, the inner part with the large cutout square, and then the two outer parts. Also associated with this part is another 3D printed bearing ring, as well as a little tool for aligning the two outer pieces when you glue them together. Next, we have the small bridge pieces. This group is for the trumpet bridge and its printed parts. My maker included some extra parts here just in case I messed up a few. This group is for the original drone bridge design. This group is for the alternate drone bridge. Again, my maker included a couple extra printed parts just in case. All of these pieces are for the tailpiece, where the melody strings will attach. There are also some extras of the tiny pieces, just in case you lose one. Now for the parts of the key box, starting with the bottom. Then the two sides, the end near the wheel, and the end near the tuning head. The lid of the key box is probably one of the simplest parts of the Gertie. It has two identical rectangles, and then one rectangle with four notches cut into it. Next is the tuning head and column. There are two tuning head and column pieces, and two side pieces. Then there's the bottom of the tuning box, the two box end pieces, and then a winged piece to guide the drone and the trumpet strings, and a plate to cover the side of the column. You also have a bridge and an extra. Next, there's four pieces that will come into play when the tuning head and column are attached to the body, and then these four pieces will be used when the machine tuners are put in. The crank handle is pretty simple with just two pieces. The wheel also has just two pieces. I got a little custom design done for mine. Now, my wheel has a specific way I want it to go together, so I'm going to go ahead and get it lined up like I want it, and then lightly mark the alignment on both pieces with a pencil. Next are the keys. The 14 taller keys are for the bottom row. They also have the taller tangents, which will be attached to them in the final setup. The 10 shorter keys are for the top row. These keys each have a little cap that will go on top, and the shorter tangents will be attached to them in the final setup. To make things a little easier for me in the build, I'm going to go ahead and label those top row key caps. I'll just glue them with the label side down so the mark doesn't show. I also underline the numbers of keys 9 and 6 in both key rows because I will get confused and turned around later if I don't. The last few parts for the nerdy gurdy are the printed crank handle knob, a couple of very slightly different hubs for the wheel, and finally a little riser for the inner trumpet string. Lastly, I'll bag and label everything so I don't lose any parts. Now that I've got everything sorted, bagged, and labeled, I'm going to stop here for now. Thank you for joining me for part 1 of this nerdy gurdy build, and I'll see you for part 2 when I actually start putting things together. Bye! What is it with cats in boxes? What is it with cats in boxes? Where are you going? You don't want to be on camera? What are you doing? You get back in the box? To one day make my own and learn to play it. Hello Charlie cat, I'm filming. Am I going to have to put you out? I am. Sweet boy. Alright, you've got to go out. Come on. I know.