Donna's Lap Harp

What beautiful work Donna. I need to get a copy of your book before I try my hand at another box. I really was pleased with this one but will want to study some before trying anything really intricate.

Someday I’d like to make a musical instrument. The harp would be interesting.

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

Hi Donna:

That’s a very neat project.

Glad to see you popped up over here.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Hi Guys-
Bob B, I went over to see your box- very nice. There are so many ways to go in making band saw boxes- if you can dream it up- you can make it.
Feeling punky today- no energy- so I cleaned the surface of my table saw, with the two cast iron wings.. At least it was a brainless task. The cat likes to sit on the corner of the saw and look outside. Needless to say my rust marks were 4-toed. I rubbed out the marks and coated the iron well with Renaissance Wax. Now have covered it up with a thick blanket. The cat will love that, but his paws won’t leave marks.
Now, if I can just figure out a good way to keep hubby from putting things on the table. . . naw.
btw- Bob or anyone else in the area- I’ll be at the West Springfield Woodcraft store on August 18th doing a show and tell, demo, and book signing. Y’all come! Donna

-- "So much wood. . .so little time!"

Wow! An instrument that just amazes me. Thanks for sharing your project and blogging the process.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Yeah, Mot, it amazes me too. I’d always thought it would be a fun project. I have run into the usual number of problems, bet I’ll bet I get it done. Donna

-- "So much wood. . .so little time!"

You do harps, too! ;^D Great work.

-- Jesus is Lord!

Very nice harp to be. I buy those magazines I guess I have to look closer to find your work. jockmike

-- Mike. Profisher50@yahoo.com

Weeeelll- I’m in the process of doing my first harp- hasn’t been an ongoing thing with me. I may do another one after this to see if I can avoid making the same mistakes and do a better job. We’ll see.
Mike- the articles are big ones, and in the current issues- can’t miss them. I don’t have any in the works now and I’m kinda busy the next couple of months, but I’ll probably do some more in the foreseeable future. Gotta figure out what everyone wants to read about. Any ideas out there? Knowing my work and seeing my site what is it that you think would make a good article- for either magazine? I’d appreciate any help- Donna

-- "So much wood. . .so little time!"

Good work Donna. Out of curiosity, is this your first musical instrument? Have you, or anyone else, made a Dulcimer before? I know someone that loves Dulcimers, especially hammered dulcimer. I just wonder how difficult it would be to make.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

Bill,
You are in luck! The same people I bought my hardware kit and plans from also sell kits for making hammered dulcimers. I almost decided to go that way- and I may do so in the future. They are www.musikit.com if you want to check into it.
I didn’t buy the precut kit, just the plans, soundboard and back, and hardware; and I’m laminating and cutting and assembling my own parts. I wanted to use my scroll saw to cut out the holes in the soundboard and back, but I had so much wood and ‘stuff’ around it that I couldn’t get to it. So, this day was a major cleaning out of my big hunks of wood, the scroll saw, and a big exercise gym. Even washed the floor and sprayed the molding wood with bleach. Smells a lot better now. And I can get to my saw. Cutting comes next- then I can glue these pieces in place- or at least the back- to the soundbox frame. The front has to be aligned with the neck and pillar and I haven’t joined them yet. I have to offset the joint 2 degrees- yikes- that is a small amount. I may need to dig out the disk sander and arrange the table with it instead of the belt sander where it usually sits. Hmmm- sounds like another cleaning job before I can continue. Heck, by the time I finish this project my shop will be all cleaned up. Good deal. Donna

-- "So much wood. . .so little time!"

Just checked back on this project and I find it to be way out of date. Check out the blog to see how it is coming along: http://harpmaking.blogspot.com/

-- "So much wood. . .so little time!"

Donna great show. And wishing you luck on the speedy completion.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com