David Rueckert – Plan for Kantele – Top

The design plans for my kantele were arrived at after looking at a number of resources. The approximate string lengths and gauges were determined from plans I purchased from English luthier Michael King. I own a Kantele purchased from Musicmakers in Stillwater Minnesota and looked at it as well as other instruments on the Internet for ideas. Through a synthesis of ideas from these sources I determined that I would create my own construction method and design shape that were appropriate to the tools and materials I would have available.

I used Photoshop to create my design and construction plan following closely the string placement from the plans by Michael king. The Photoshop file is 35 x 11 inches. To print this and use as a template for cutting the wood components it was necessary to divide the plan into 5 image tiles with overlapping X alignment marks and guides to depict page edges. The pages would be taped together to make the complete physical guide.

David Rueckert – Plan for Kantele – Bottom