The Minty Kalimba

Step 5 Putting the Whole Thing Together!

Now that you have all your parts made (keys, tin with holes, and vice) you can finally put the whole thing together and hear what it sounds like. It may take a bit of fiddling in order to make it so all the the pieces fit together snuggly.

Step 1:

Put together the top rod and machine screws. Thread the machine screws through both the holes in the 3/8" brass tube and the holes in the tin itself. Put on the washers underneath the tin and then put on the nuts. Keep the whole part as loose as possible because we'll need to have room for the keys and the 1/8" rod underneath this component.

Step 2:

Sit the two 1/8" rods about half an inch apart from each other, equadistant from the holes in the tin.

Step 3:

Tighten the machine screws until the top tube is about a quarter of an inch above the bottom two bars.

Step 4:

Slide the ends of the keys into the space between the bars. This is the part that requires a bit of fiddling in order to make sure everything is square. This is the time to figure out what notes you want your keys to have. The note played all depends on the length of the key. The longer the key, the lower the note and vice versa. Before you tighten the vice completely you can slide the keys in and out to change the pitch.

Step 5:

Tighten the screws until the keys are firmly locked in place.