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The process of making was rather quick and involved very little number of tools. Traditionally making a kantele in terms of technology was not much different from making any other carved wooden object. It is possible to make a kantele in three-four days using only an axe, a saw, a knife and a chisel. Sometimes but not often a plane was used. The shape of an instrument and the technology do not require a special kind of wood. It only needs to be hard enough and not to split too easy and almost any kind of hard wood meets these requirements. Usually a pine, a burch and a spruce were used. These kinds of wood are among the most widespread in the areas where instruments were made. Very often instruments were made of relatively fresh wood. It seems to be that the choice of raw material was not the major concern of a carver and most often it was defined by what a carver had at hand. The actual body of an instrument is usually made of a single piece of wood. The outer shape was done with a saw and an axe and the hollowing with chisels and a knife.Holes for tuning pegs can be drilled or burned. Finishing was completed by scratching the surface with sharp metal blade or a glass. After that an instrument was painted with some sort of dark (preferably black) paint. |
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