# DragonFly Harp



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

*Planning, planning, planning*

Hi, I'm Donna Menke and I enjoy making things out of wood. You can see more of my projects and links to other woodworking and carving blogs on my web site: www.woodworks-by-donna.com
I have some nice cherry wood on hand- so I'm going to make another harp similar to the last one, but with a few variations. Stocks above, and view of grain below.
















This is the harp I made from plans from MusicMakers back in 2007, out of walnut boards. http://harpmaking.blogspot.com/








Here is the rough stock being analyzed for the best sections to use.








Cutting the big woods into littler woods makes them easier to handle. Here I'm checking the blade for square.








Sometimes it seems like the planning can take longer than the creation, but it is a necessary phase in any project. 
Why am I designing my own harp? I wanted to see if I could modify the Limerick plans I used for the walnut Rainbow harp I made in 2007. I wanted the soundbox smaller, and I wanted it to be self-supporting and as tall as the Heartland DreamWeaver that I have and like. I took aspects of lots of different harps and put them all together and this is what I came up with. I also wanted a harp that could be easily transported- like the lap harps, but also be able to stand alone like the floor harps, but even more, to not need to lean it against myself to play it. 
The first step will be to make a model out of foam. The plan is to make it fairly close to reality so that I can get close to correct interfaces for the parts. I also want to sculpt the knuckle out of foam before
committing to wood.
I may be trying to do the impossible- but I have hopes that it will work.
























Here I'm checking out possible layouts for the neck and pillar plans. These are not the final plans, but I can get an idea if I will have enough wood for the project.








These are the boards that will be used for the sides.








This is the sort of damage to look out for. The obvious nick at the end is one, but the shallow splitting of the wood further up is even more dangerous.








I will run the wood through the planer to see if I can get below these 'shakes'. Right now the thickness is 1 7/8" and it should be 1 3/4".


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## lightweightladylefty (Mar 27, 2008)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Planning, planning, planning*
> 
> Hi, I'm Donna Menke and I enjoy making things out of wood. You can see more of my projects and links to other woodworking and carving blogs on my web site: www.woodworks-by-donna.com
> I have some nice cherry wood on hand- so I'm going to make another harp similar to the last one, but with a few variations. Stocks above, and view of grain below.
> ...


Donna,

We don't know much about musical instrument design and construction, but are wondering how the change in the size of the soundbox will alter the tonal quality of the music?

L/W


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## jack1 (May 17, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Planning, planning, planning*
> 
> Hi, I'm Donna Menke and I enjoy making things out of wood. You can see more of my projects and links to other woodworking and carving blogs on my web site: www.woodworks-by-donna.com
> I have some nice cherry wood on hand- so I'm going to make another harp similar to the last one, but with a few variations. Stocks above, and view of grain below.
> ...


All I can say is wow.


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Planning, planning, planning*
> 
> Hi, I'm Donna Menke and I enjoy making things out of wood. You can see more of my projects and links to other woodworking and carving blogs on my web site: www.woodworks-by-donna.com
> I have some nice cherry wood on hand- so I'm going to make another harp similar to the last one, but with a few variations. Stocks above, and view of grain below.
> ...


Thanks, Jack.
LWLL- the sound is great. Every change I made seems to have been good. I'm very leased with the results of my experiment.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Planning, planning, planning*
> 
> Hi, I'm Donna Menke and I enjoy making things out of wood. You can see more of my projects and links to other woodworking and carving blogs on my web site: www.woodworks-by-donna.com
> I have some nice cherry wood on hand- so I'm going to make another harp similar to the last one, but with a few variations. Stocks above, and view of grain below.
> ...


what jack1 one said…........wow and double wow wow. just beautiful. I'll bet it sounds explicit! Do you play the harp Donna? If so, could you add a few strums, I'd really luv ta hear this beauty. thnx


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Planning, planning, planning*
> 
> Hi, I'm Donna Menke and I enjoy making things out of wood. You can see more of my projects and links to other woodworking and carving blogs on my web site: www.woodworks-by-donna.com
> I have some nice cherry wood on hand- so I'm going to make another harp similar to the last one, but with a few variations. Stocks above, and view of grain below.
> ...


Thanks Roger- nice that you like my harp. I did post a followup including a link to a YouTube played on this harp.


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

*Progress in Design*

12-29-2010
Worked most of the afternoon on the harp mock-up in builder's insulation foam board. We have a lot of this material left over from when we built the house over 25 years ago. It is 1" thick so it will work out well. I have made projects with and without mock-ups and those with the model always work out better. I even made one of this house before building it!








Here the plans have been transferred to the board and I've discovered that some of the stresses on the pillar are at too much of an angle if I angle it to the outside of the soundbox- so I'll have to go back to the original Limerick plans with the pillar ending inside the box.








You can see in this photo that there was a lot of fiddling with the curve of the pillar before I feel that I got the best design.
Before quitting for the day I cut out two of each of the main parts and glued the matching pillar and neck pieces together. Tomorrow I should be able to figure out how to make the interfaces. Working with this foam is a lot easier than working with hard wood. Mistakes are easily corrected now- so that maybe later I can do it right in cherry.


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## lightweightladylefty (Mar 27, 2008)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Progress in Design*
> 
> 12-29-2010
> Worked most of the afternoon on the harp mock-up in builder's insulation foam board. We have a lot of this material left over from when we built the house over 25 years ago. It is 1" thick so it will work out well. I have made projects with and without mock-ups and those with the model always work out better. I even made one of this house before building it!
> ...


Donna,

We're looking forward to following your blog. I'd love to make one some day!

L/W


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## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Progress in Design*
> 
> 12-29-2010
> Worked most of the afternoon on the harp mock-up in builder's insulation foam board. We have a lot of this material left over from when we built the house over 25 years ago. It is 1" thick so it will work out well. I have made projects with and without mock-ups and those with the model always work out better. I even made one of this house before building it!
> ...


I'm already looking forward to the next post!


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

*Making the Pink Harp*

Started the new year off right with many hours in the shop working on the harp project. I'll try to keep track of my hours- a good guess would be about 10 hours to date.
I don't kid myself that working with this foam is anything like working with wood, but I need to get a prototype before I can even think about making working drawings.
 















I spent a lot of time trying to get my styrofoam pieces to stay in the right plane before I got the brain storm to make some supportive blocks at the right angles. Note the high-tech fasteners. At least they are easy to reposition, but they are not too stable.
I ended up drawing a lot on the table top- should have laid a big piece of paper down first- but that would not have been as stable. Time to refinish the top anyhow.
















Finally got a piece to fit neatly into the top part. I won't show you the rejects- too discouraging. Suffice it to say that working with compound angles is difficult. The second layer isn't quite as pretty, but I have to shape it after I remove the model off the table, and I'm not there yet.
















I have thought about how much easier it would be to make this harp with parallel sides- then I thought about megaphones and speakers and how they amplify sound- so I'm working the angles. On this base piece, for example, it has to follow the angles of the front and back (different angles, of course), as well as the angle of the bottom of the harp. . . and, fit fully into the bottom of the sides. That is another step that has to wait until I take the pink model off the table- tomorrow.


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Making the Pink Harp*
> 
> Started the new year off right with many hours in the shop working on the harp project. I'll try to keep track of my hours- a good guess would be about 10 hours to date.
> I don't kid myself that working with this foam is anything like working with wood, but I need to get a prototype before I can even think about making working drawings.
> ...


I'm really enjoying this new easier way to post photos. thanks to the genius who simplified the process.


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## BarbS (Mar 20, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Making the Pink Harp*
> 
> Started the new year off right with many hours in the shop working on the harp project. I'll try to keep track of my hours- a good guess would be about 10 hours to date.
> I don't kid myself that working with this foam is anything like working with wood, but I need to get a prototype before I can even think about making working drawings.
> ...


What a great idea to use the foam as your prototype. Fun to follow along on what you're doing, Donna.


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Making the Pink Harp*
> 
> Started the new year off right with many hours in the shop working on the harp project. I'll try to keep track of my hours- a good guess would be about 10 hours to date.
> I don't kid myself that working with this foam is anything like working with wood, but I need to get a prototype before I can even think about making working drawings.
> ...


Coming along well Donna and interesting that you chose styrofoam to do a mock-up with. Will you be using the styrofoam to make patterns from for routing, cutting, etc.?


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

*1/4/2011 Completed Model*

Here is a good example of just how difficult joinery is with foam. Lots of slop and instant gratification- not at all like wood. Wonder if one can play a foam harp- nah.








The foam model has been assembled for the first time- with toothpicks, tape, and chewing gum (just kidding about the gum). I tried to glue some parts with Titebond, but it never dried and didn't stick well. I've decided to return to the original plan to end the bottom of the pillar outside of the sound box. Hope it works. Everything else looks good to go.
















I'm designing and making the base for the harp now. If I say I'll do it later I know it will never happen, so I will do all the building at the same time. I have changed the base profile many times and ended up with this 'walking man' design. I like it. By placing the pieces altogether I can make the base to fit just right (fingers crossed).
















I ran out of pink foam so we have a two-toned harp base. I also left these pieces 1" thick though the wood version will use 3/4" cherry. You can see my Heartland DreamWeaver next to the model for size comparison. Everything has so far fit better than I anticipated. Then again, foam is much more forgiving than hard wood.
As you can see in the last photo- this is a perfect fit for me- and I am a happy camper.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/4/2011 Completed Model*
> 
> Here is a good example of just how difficult joinery is with foam. Lots of slop and instant gratification- not at all like wood. Wonder if one can play a foam harp- nah.
> 
> ...


Great idea using foam for the mockup Donna. Now you can begin with the real fun of building it. I can't wait to see it completed I'm sure much later on.

Try using hot glue for foam, works real well.

What kind of tension are those strings under? Looks like you have adequate support for it hopefully.


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/4/2011 Completed Model*
> 
> Here is a good example of just how difficult joinery is with foam. Lots of slop and instant gratification- not at all like wood. Wonder if one can play a foam harp- nah.
> 
> ...


Eric- just vacuumed up the foam bits and pieces and next I'm going to need to dig out some more cherry lumber and hope it is in good enough shape to use for this project. After I get it all planed down to required thicknesses I'll be able to lay out my foam on the wood. I've decided to not make full-sized drawings since: 1. I don't have a drafting machine; 2. I'm anxious to start making sawdust; and 3. Things will change as I go along- so why waste my time. When doing a one-off, I've heard it is good to fit each part to the adjoining part. Hope that works.
What I will do is trace off each piece onto a large piece of paper so that if I want to recreate this project in the future I will have a ready reference.
I believe these nylon strings are only under about 450 pounds of pressure. It is a relatively small harp with 26 strings.
I didn't want a too permanent join for the pieces since I will be taking it apart and using the pieces as a start for the plans. I'll remember hot-glue next time. Thanks


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/4/2011 Completed Model*
> 
> Here is a good example of just how difficult joinery is with foam. Lots of slop and instant gratification- not at all like wood. Wonder if one can play a foam harp- nah.
> 
> ...


Autumn- thanks- lot of work, but easy work. That foam is so easy- light- bendable- not like wood at all. I have seen harps with all sorts of configurations. The bottom of the pillar can end on the soundboard itself, though backed up with solid wood on the interior to the base; through a hole in the soundboard to the base; or just outside of the soundboard resting on the base. Through the soundboard is most common for harps of this size, but I like the looks of it outside so we will see how that works out.
The 'walking man' refers to the stand, whose legs look to me like a walking man.


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## BigTiny (Jun 29, 2010)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/4/2011 Completed Model*
> 
> Here is a good example of just how difficult joinery is with foam. Lots of slop and instant gratification- not at all like wood. Wonder if one can play a foam harp- nah.
> 
> ...


Hi Donna.

Nice mock-up. If you used rubber bands as strings, you could "play" it. (grin)

I'd be concerned about the arrangement of the pillar with the strain that area will be under. It could easily twist the base out of alignment and cause a complete failure of the harp if it isn't braced in some way. 450 pounds of tension doesn't sound like much compared to the many times that ammount larger harps are subjected to, but when it is concentrated at one place and is pulling at the fastening of the base to the back, trouble is just waiting to happen. I'd brace that area in some way to avoid problems.


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/4/2011 Completed Model*
> 
> Here is a good example of just how difficult joinery is with foam. Lots of slop and instant gratification- not at all like wood. Wonder if one can play a foam harp- nah.
> 
> ...


Hubby has already suggested the rubber-band idea. Maybe I'll try it before taking it apart. 
About the strain- I'm not sure where you are noticing the need for bracing. Do you mean the base of the pillar or the base of the harp body? This is a good time to think about bracing if I need more. Easy to add now.
Thanks for your comment.


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## kenn (Mar 19, 2008)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/4/2011 Completed Model*
> 
> Here is a good example of just how difficult joinery is with foam. Lots of slop and instant gratification- not at all like wood. Wonder if one can play a foam harp- nah.
> 
> ...


Smart use of a model and full size, too. I like the flow you've put in and how it all moves from top to bottom. The harp just grows right out of the base. I don't know anything about harp making, but this looks cool.


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/4/2011 Completed Model*
> 
> Here is a good example of just how difficult joinery is with foam. Lots of slop and instant gratification- not at all like wood. Wonder if one can play a foam harp- nah.
> 
> ...


Thanks Kenn- you understand what I was aiming for- yippee!


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## Artist (Feb 10, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/4/2011 Completed Model*
> 
> Here is a good example of just how difficult joinery is with foam. Lots of slop and instant gratification- not at all like wood. Wonder if one can play a foam harp- nah.
> 
> ...


Great mockup. It looks like it will be comfortable to play, perfect angle, reach and height to you chair.


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/4/2011 Completed Model*
> 
> Here is a good example of just how difficult joinery is with foam. Lots of slop and instant gratification- not at all like wood. Wonder if one can play a foam harp- nah.
> 
> ...


what a brilliant idea and the shape is beautiful - very musical.


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/4/2011 Completed Model*
> 
> Here is a good example of just how difficult joinery is with foam. Lots of slop and instant gratification- not at all like wood. Wonder if one can play a foam harp- nah.
> 
> ...


I'm hoping it all works out. Thanks to some comments from a harp group I've changed the angle at the bottom of the stand so that the harp tilts a bit more towards the player. This also makes it a bit shorter and the strings more vertical. As building progresses with wood there will be more design modifications (never call them mistakes) to work into the mix.
Foam has been retired- now to the wood!


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## stevenhsieh (Jan 8, 2010)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/4/2011 Completed Model*
> 
> Here is a good example of just how difficult joinery is with foam. Lots of slop and instant gratification- not at all like wood. Wonder if one can play a foam harp- nah.
> 
> ...


I use to make props from foam. 
There are couple of way to glue.

Hot glue is the fastest
or construction foam adhesive sold in caulk tubes


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/4/2011 Completed Model*
> 
> Here is a good example of just how difficult joinery is with foam. Lots of slop and instant gratification- not at all like wood. Wonder if one can play a foam harp- nah.
> 
> ...


Glad to know that there are alternatives. The yellow glue was OK after a long time- like overnight- and then when I wanted to take the pieces apart they mostly came away easily. The foam was old and dusty though, so that probably made a difference.


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## tyka (Jan 10, 2011)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/4/2011 Completed Model*
> 
> Here is a good example of just how difficult joinery is with foam. Lots of slop and instant gratification- not at all like wood. Wonder if one can play a foam harp- nah.
> 
> ...


Good work Donna. It looks like its allready paying off, making the model I mean. Making corrections allready. Best done before you start making sawdust. I tend to make a scale drawing and wing the rest as I go along. I tried cardboard, but its not really 3D like foam. I'm designing contemporary coffee tables and was affraid to start building them. Wood is very expensive here. Now I will do a mock-up with high density foam. Thank you very much for sharing and for all the pics.


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/4/2011 Completed Model*
> 
> Here is a good example of just how difficult joinery is with foam. Lots of slop and instant gratification- not at all like wood. Wonder if one can play a foam harp- nah.
> 
> ...


Hi Paul- you are most welcome. I have learned so much and gained so much inspiration that it is only fair to reciprocate to the fine folks in group. This foam was not very expensive- even if I had had to pay for it, and it has more than paid for itself. I laid out the cut lines on the wood for the pillar, neck and knuckle today so I'll be able to cut them out tomorrow. I made even more changes on the wood, but it was nice to have something to use as a start pattern.


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

*Stand Mods- 1/6/2011*

After getting some great helpful feedback from members of my Virtual Harp Circle (Yahoo! group) friends I decided that the harp needed to be shorter and angled more towards the player. That would make the strings more vertical and the player would not have to lift the arms as high to play. Here on the workbench I've propped up the front of the harp to simulate that change.








Then you see the result in place. I decided against removing too much of the legs of the stand. Not much difference, but hope it still balances well in wood. That is the plan for the Limerick soundboard stuck to the side. By using that string layout, and that for the neck, I hope to get the same sound.








With that settled I could disassemble the foam mock-up and start to pick out my wood. This may seem like an easy job, but I spent 6 hours yesterday working on the project- which brings me up to about 21 hours so far- and I haven't even started to make sawdust.
















Here is the stack of foam and the stack of cherry wood.








This is the scary part- now I have to commit and start cutting up the wood. Without a set plan this will be interesting. I read recently that with a prototype you just make the first piece and then fit the next one to it. . . and so on. Easy for that guy to say, he wasn't making a harp!


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## Artist (Feb 10, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Stand Mods- 1/6/2011*
> 
> After getting some great helpful feedback from members of my Virtual Harp Circle (Yahoo! group) friends I decided that the harp needed to be shorter and angled more towards the player. That would make the strings more vertical and the player would not have to lift the arms as high to play. Here on the workbench I've propped up the front of the harp to simulate that change.
> 
> ...


Will be watching the process. I'm sure you learned so much doing your first one and you did all the prework you can do for this one so will be watching you pressing on.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Stand Mods- 1/6/2011*
> 
> After getting some great helpful feedback from members of my Virtual Harp Circle (Yahoo! group) friends I decided that the harp needed to be shorter and angled more towards the player. That would make the strings more vertical and the player would not have to lift the arms as high to play. Here on the workbench I've propped up the front of the harp to simulate that change.
> 
> ...


Now is the time to discover those things. Your templates proved beneficial and you now have patterns to work with  This is going to be a beautiful harp when finished!


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Stand Mods- 1/6/2011*
> 
> After getting some great helpful feedback from members of my Virtual Harp Circle (Yahoo! group) friends I decided that the harp needed to be shorter and angled more towards the player. That would make the strings more vertical and the player would not have to lift the arms as high to play. Here on the workbench I've propped up the front of the harp to simulate that change.
> 
> ...


A brave venture. I like the prototype way of working. You will undoubtedly get some good ideas as you go along and you will be able to incorporate them into the design since you are not working from a detailed and nailed plan. Very interesting to watch your progress. The styrofoam prototype/patterns seem to have worked out very well.


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Stand Mods- 1/6/2011*
> 
> After getting some great helpful feedback from members of my Virtual Harp Circle (Yahoo! group) friends I decided that the harp needed to be shorter and angled more towards the player. That would make the strings more vertical and the player would not have to lift the arms as high to play. Here on the workbench I've propped up the front of the harp to simulate that change.
> 
> ...


Autumn: Now THAT is a cool instrument. Thanks so much for that link. Hubby thinks it is great too- I will have to hide fun things like that from him or he will want to build one. We expect our projects to take longer than expected- we call it the 11/3rds rule. If Fine Homebuilding says it will take 3 days then it will take us 11. Same with fine woodworking, but that is a hobby and taking time for hobbies is OK.
Diane: You are right that doing it the second time is somewhat easier- though I have to constantly keep in mind how some of the changes I've made affect the plans and construction. This new design, for example, will not need the internal bottom piece since it sits on an external bottom piece- hadn't thought about that until laying in bed at night going over the construction in my head. Took a long time to get to sleep. 
Stephang and Eric: I had to make the foam version or I would not have any idea where to start. Combining my new ideas with existing string placement seems like a good way to go about it without going through the process of defining a new harmonic curve- I have no interest in that project. I'm already looking forward to stringing it up and hearing the sound it makes. Silly woman.
Thanks for the comments, Jocks, it is heartening to get feedback.
Now I have to brave my table saw- shudder- gird my loins and brave my nemesis.


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

*1/12/2011*

Doesn't seem like 6 days have passed, but the calendar does not lie. I have a lot to catch up with.
First order of the day was to edge join the pieces I would need to have wider- like for parts of the stand legs and the base of the harp.








These Bessey clamps are the best.








Then I needed to cut the angled sides. This was the most dreaded job, and the first rip (with the grain) on the table saw (my second least-favorite power tool). Took most of a morning to assemble the tool and then to figure out what angle needed to be cut. Finally double-sided taped the wood to the jig so that it would not slip during the cut.








Obviously the angle was not perfect, causing the wood to go through the blade at a slightly off angle- hence the burning on the cut edges. No worries, it will be gone with sanding later on.
I taped some 1/4" pieces of basswood to the backside of one of the edges to make the angled cut at 5 degrees on the opposite side. The blade only tilts one way. Last time I used the other side as a spacer- forgot about that this time. Should read my own blog! Would have been easier, and more accurate.
Then, the slots needed to be cut at 5 degrees, going the same direction on both edges, and the sides needed to be mirror images so that the soundboard and back would slide into them and be planar to the front and back sides. That took a lot of cogitation, but it came out OK, so it was worth the hours of set up.
























Making the ends rabbets were easy once I got the angles right. I should have dug out and used the $150 SysteMatic dado set, but being lazy I just made repeated cuts with my $110 Forrest WoodWorker 2 blade. I will clean it up with a carving gouge. The dado set would have made a cleaner cut, but it would have take me an hour to set it up.








Now I get to do the fun part- using the band saw- my very favorite power tool. First I essentially designed the harp base on the wood. I had run it through the planer again to make it perfectly smooth on both sides. Here I'm using drafting tools to make nice-looking curves. Then there is the hard part of determining at what angle to make the cuts. Remember that the back and front are at two different angles- and, the side to side angles are different too.
















Not one to trust the gauges on the machines- you never should- I set up with this bevel angle gauge. Then, just as a double check (because it is easier to over-check then it is to fix a mistake) I also check empirically, with the side itself.Now you know why it can take me so long to set up.








After making all the cuts I could get at with the band saws I got to do some hand sawing with my Bakuma Japanese back-saw. Love those saws. My Dozuki is my favorite saw and I should have used it here because it has finer teeth and would have made a better cut. Musta been getting tired.
























I'm satisfied with the fit, especially considering the complexity of the cuts. I will have to do something to smooth out the design elements, but that will be for later, when I see it all together.
Now I will dry- assemble the base with screws and work on designing and making the top piece.
Additional time= 16 hours over 4 days. Total= 37, so far.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/12/2011*
> 
> Doesn't seem like 6 days have passed, but the calendar does not lie. I have a lot to catch up with.
> First order of the day was to edge join the pieces I would need to have wider- like for parts of the stand legs and the base of the harp.
> ...


Nice work Donna. You are making some good progress. I like the bevel idea for the bandsaw. I usually rely on the angle gauge. Maybe thats why my angled cuts on there aren't accurate. I'll have to try that tip, however I just bought a magnetic digital angle block so I'm going to test that out. When it comes to my piece of junk table saw though I NEVER rely on the stock angle gauge.


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/12/2011*
> 
> Doesn't seem like 6 days have passed, but the calendar does not lie. I have a lot to catch up with.
> First order of the day was to edge join the pieces I would need to have wider- like for parts of the stand legs and the base of the harp.
> ...


Ooooh- think that will have to be my next tool purchase- a magnetic digital angle block. When I clamped my pieces together in order to drill for the screws- lo and behold the tops of the sides met on the backside. . . that was not supposed to happen. After 2 hours of scratching my head I still don't know how it happened, but I have a way to fix it anyhow.
First thing tomorrow I'm making some very accurate gauges using 3/4" birch ply- for 5, 8, 10, and 15 degrees. Heck I may even have to resort to some trigonometry to make sure they are accurate.
One more thing- I should have kept a log of what I was doing. I can hardly remember anymore which angles went where.
Talk about a puzzle!
It is all a good learning experience.


----------



## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/12/2011*
> 
> Doesn't seem like 6 days have passed, but the calendar does not lie. I have a lot to catch up with.
> First order of the day was to edge join the pieces I would need to have wider- like for parts of the stand legs and the base of the harp.
> ...


This is a very interesting story. I am looking forward to seeing this harp come together!


----------



## MartyBacke (Oct 23, 2010)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/12/2011*
> 
> Doesn't seem like 6 days have passed, but the calendar does not lie. I have a lot to catch up with.
> First order of the day was to edge join the pieces I would need to have wider- like for parts of the stand legs and the base of the harp.
> ...


Nice post.

I don't understand your explanation for the burning. I usually attribute burns to dull or improper saw blades. Are you using a high quality rip blade? I'm partial to the Freud blades. My go-to rip blade is their LM74R010 glue line blade. They're not cheap, but with saw blades you get what you pay for, and they last a long time.

If you are using a quality rip blade, then the burning would be due to ripping at too slow of a rate and movement of the wood (away from the fence) during the cut.

Just some thoughts …


----------



## MartyBacke (Oct 23, 2010)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/12/2011*
> 
> Doesn't seem like 6 days have passed, but the calendar does not lie. I have a lot to catch up with.
> First order of the day was to edge join the pieces I would need to have wider- like for parts of the stand legs and the base of the harp.
> ...


Oh, I forgot to take the bait - what's your least favorite power tool? I'm going to guess that it's the router.


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/12/2011*
> 
> Doesn't seem like 6 days have passed, but the calendar does not lie. I have a lot to catch up with.
> First order of the day was to edge join the pieces I would need to have wider- like for parts of the stand legs and the base of the harp.
> ...


It is a toss-up between the table saw and the router. It is funny though- anticipation is worse than actually using them. Once I get into it then my fear lessens dramatically and I'm OK- after making sure that I've done everything to make it a safe procedure.
Marty- I'm using a Forrest Woodworker II blade that cost $110 10 years ago- so that is pretty good quality. The burning was the result of having the taper jig not be perfectly aligned with the blade and so it went through at probably a 1/4 degree angle. Not enough to keep it from going through very close to the line, but enough to burn the always ready to burn cherry. I was also going too slowly I'm sure. Subsequent cuts have not burned.


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/12/2011*
> 
> Doesn't seem like 6 days have passed, but the calendar does not lie. I have a lot to catch up with.
> First order of the day was to edge join the pieces I would need to have wider- like for parts of the stand legs and the base of the harp.
> ...


Thanks, Autumn, that is good to know. Would that be paint thinner? I will try it.
Spent 5 hours today checking machines and tools for accuracy. Then, scrapped my messed up tracings of the pieces and layout and started fresh- with greater accuracy. Even got hubby to dig out an old trigonometry book and use measurements to determine that the angle of the sides from base to top is 7 degrees- not 8. Changed when I widened the top but forgot to change the angle. Now I have the almost impossible task of changing the angles on the sides of the base- one degree. I will have to carve it since no power tool will be able to get in there. I think I can do it- I am, after all, a carver.


----------



## BarbS (Mar 20, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/12/2011*
> 
> Doesn't seem like 6 days have passed, but the calendar does not lie. I have a lot to catch up with.
> First order of the day was to edge join the pieces I would need to have wider- like for parts of the stand legs and the base of the harp.
> ...


Wow Donna, very ambitious! Interesting blog.


----------



## MartyBacke (Oct 23, 2010)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/12/2011*
> 
> Doesn't seem like 6 days have passed, but the calendar does not lie. I have a lot to catch up with.
> First order of the day was to edge join the pieces I would need to have wider- like for parts of the stand legs and the base of the harp.
> ...


Now I do understand your description of the burn cause. Looks like you have a good handle on it. A nice blade for sure. 10 years? Remember, they don't last forever - a great new blade eventually starts cutting like a cheapy (not that yours is - just a general comment). Even after having them sharpened, they never seem to be as good as when new, from my experience.

I hate burn marks. I don't envy you the upcoming work to clean up those.


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/12/2011*
> 
> Doesn't seem like 6 days have passed, but the calendar does not lie. I have a lot to catch up with.
> First order of the day was to edge join the pieces I would need to have wider- like for parts of the stand legs and the base of the harp.
> ...


Marty- at the rate I use my table saw blade it may just last for my lifetime. Give ya a hint- it had not been used since I made the last harp- in 2007! No kidding. I'm OK using it now, but the first few cuts are always full of anxiety- unreasoned fear- extra caution- memory of a bad kickback in 1973 (I have a long memory and don't forgive easily-LOL). And when hubby needs to use it to cut construction-type lumber I change the blade.
Now- band saw blades are another story. I go through them because I use them. Funny thing has happened- the 1/2' Wood Slicer blade I had on the Jet 14" has become dull. It was working great before I cut all that foam. Is it possible that the soft-like-it-isn't-even-there foam could have dulled my blade. It is about 3 years old and has been used a lot, but not abused. I tried to resaw 5 1/2" cherry and ruined the board- twice. Cut way crooked (even with a resaw fence) and tear-out on the bottom is ridiculous. Guess I need to put in one of the brand-new 1/2 or 3/4" Timberwolf blades I have in stock and try again.
I have been planning to round-over (sanding) the edges that are burned, so the burn will sand away then. The dimensions there are not at all critical.


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

*1/20/2011 S-L-O-W Going*

Days and days of mostly just staring at the dumb thing wondering why- oh why- things did not meet the way they should. Take a little off here- then a little off there- shoot!- think I took some off the wrong side. This was not the way to go.








My micro-plane was going to be my salvation, but it may have created more problems than it fixed.








Talk about creative clamping! Trying to get all the angles right and everything where it is supposed to be so that the screws in the base will end up in the right places. Not so effective.








The base is screwed- (no comments from the peanut gallery)- but the sides are not in the correct alignment. Fiddled with it every day (day after day) for 2-4 hours and still didn't have it just right. Finally gave up and decided to work from the neck down. Maybe the top of the harp (knee block) will be able to keep everything aligned and I can drill yet another set of holes in the base- running out of room there now.
















We won't even go into how many hours were spent taking the measurements for this paper pattern. It seemed to fit fairly well, so I made a cereal carton cardboard model to see if it was going to fit.
















I glued up some scraps of cherry to make a big enough block for the knee-block, and then I cut it using the band saw. Not a good fit at all. Took it to the big belt sander to refine some of the angles. Finally used hand sanding on a flat surface to get it pretty close.








Went shopping for some new toys. Gotta be a better way to measure small angles on small areas. Finally got a digital angle gauge and angle-measure-thingy at Home Depot. They both work fairly well, and I like the digital readout, but there is no way to accurately measure an angle when the side is just 1/4" wide. Lesson learned- cut it right the first time- dummy!
















Dry run to fine tune the details. Lining things up on the plans is a big help. It ain't perfect, but I think it just may be close enough.
















Ready or not- it is glued. Tough job because of all the weird angles. It wanted to squish out when the glue was applied. Lots of clamps and lots of glue and I'll know tomorrow morning whether or not it will do.
After the screws are in the base correctly I can measure for and cut the soundboard and back board. Once they are cut I can work on them for adding the string reinforcement and decoration to the soundboard, and put the sound-holes in the back board. That should be easy. Nothing could be as hard as making and fitting and gluing that knee block and making the base.
Time- 8 days, 23 hours
Total= 60


----------



## BarbS (Mar 20, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/20/2011 S-L-O-W Going*
> 
> Days and days of mostly just staring at the dumb thing wondering why- oh why- things did not meet the way they should. Take a little off here- then a little off there- shoot!- think I took some off the wrong side. This was not the way to go.
> 
> ...


Hoo-boy. That piece is a struggle. And I didn't hear you say you wanted to go into production mode on these, either. ;-) 
I know you won't give up, Donna. Keep thinking how much this instrument is going to mean to you! 
And thanks for posting your process.
-BarbS


----------



## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/20/2011 S-L-O-W Going*
> 
> Days and days of mostly just staring at the dumb thing wondering why- oh why- things did not meet the way they should. Take a little off here- then a little off there- shoot!- think I took some off the wrong side. This was not the way to go.
> 
> ...


oh man… that's a frustrating process.

so did you get any "ah ha - this is how I'll do it next time" discoveries?


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/20/2011 S-L-O-W Going*
> 
> Days and days of mostly just staring at the dumb thing wondering why- oh why- things did not meet the way they should. Take a little off here- then a little off there- shoot!- think I took some off the wrong side. This was not the way to go.
> 
> ...


Why hush yo' mouth- don't even think the words- 'next time'!


----------



## RonPeters (Jul 7, 2010)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/20/2011 S-L-O-W Going*
> 
> Days and days of mostly just staring at the dumb thing wondering why- oh why- things did not meet the way they should. Take a little off here- then a little off there- shoot!- think I took some off the wrong side. This was not the way to go.
> 
> ...


Donna, 
Maybe you could make a 1/4 size prototype? That way you will use less good wood and still have to 'fix' the angles at less cost. You could even use MDF for that. The clamping would be the same as well.

Still, it's a pretty cool harp!


----------



## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/20/2011 S-L-O-W Going*
> 
> Days and days of mostly just staring at the dumb thing wondering why- oh why- things did not meet the way they should. Take a little off here- then a little off there- shoot!- think I took some off the wrong side. This was not the way to go.
> 
> ...


ooops sorry


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/20/2011 S-L-O-W Going*
> 
> Days and days of mostly just staring at the dumb thing wondering why- oh why- things did not meet the way they should. Take a little off here- then a little off there- shoot!- think I took some off the wrong side. This was not the way to go.
> 
> ...


Ms Debbie- I was just kidding- actually making a harp is a very rewarding project. Plucking the strings for the first time is quite a thrill. I'm already contemplating making a harp that would fit in a suitcase- like to take on an airplane. Traveling with a harp is difficult and people have struggled for years to come up with a good travel harp. We'll see.
Ron- that is a good idea- and it would be fun to see what a 1/4-sized harp sounded like, but it would take a lot of time and I'd rather work on the real thing. Working with foam, paper, and cardboard were helpful steps in this process.


----------



## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/20/2011 S-L-O-W Going*
> 
> Days and days of mostly just staring at the dumb thing wondering why- oh why- things did not meet the way they should. Take a little off here- then a little off there- shoot!- think I took some off the wrong side. This was not the way to go.
> 
> ...


I assumed that since this is not your first harp that you must enjoy making them! 

hmm a traveling harp. Yes, that would be a well-sought-after item. Interesting concept!


----------



## ratchet (Jan 12, 2008)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/20/2011 S-L-O-W Going*
> 
> Days and days of mostly just staring at the dumb thing wondering why- oh why- things did not meet the way they should. Take a little off here- then a little off there- shoot!- think I took some off the wrong side. This was not the way to go.
> 
> ...


Amazing built Donna, thanks for sharing the journey with us. Might all the angles be easier if you designed in Sketchup first?


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/20/2011 S-L-O-W Going*
> 
> Days and days of mostly just staring at the dumb thing wondering why- oh why- things did not meet the way they should. Take a little off here- then a little off there- shoot!- think I took some off the wrong side. This was not the way to go.
> 
> ...


I'm sure you are right- if I knew how to draft using a program like that. I spent a lot of time trying to learn how to use AutoCad- back about 1987- yoicks, thats 24 years ago! It was difficult then but I'm sure there are more user-friendly programs now. I'm an old draftsman though and I like the feel of pencil and paper.


----------



## Artist (Feb 10, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/20/2011 S-L-O-W Going*
> 
> Days and days of mostly just staring at the dumb thing wondering why- oh why- things did not meet the way they should. Take a little off here- then a little off there- shoot!- think I took some off the wrong side. This was not the way to go.
> 
> ...


A traveling harp now making that would make you an inventor too, hope it happens. I so much would like to invent something, my dream, and would so like to see you do it. Can't wait to see you finished project on this one. Maybe someone lives near you that could help you learn Sketchup, whatever that is I really have no clue.


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/20/2011 S-L-O-W Going*
> 
> Days and days of mostly just staring at the dumb thing wondering why- oh why- things did not meet the way they should. Take a little off here- then a little off there- shoot!- think I took some off the wrong side. This was not the way to go.
> 
> ...


I was thinking of a couple of different ways to make a harp that would fit into a suitcase- and then I found a couple of people who had done just that. I may still make my own attempt someday. Right now I am enjoying the heck out of just making this harp.
What would you like to invent Diane?


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

*1/25/2011 Sound Box Completed*

Isn't it strange how sometimes you can work and work and have nothing to show for it. Fortunately there are other times when a lot happens in a short period of time.
















One of the tricky parts of this design is the pillar ending outside of the soundbox. For this to work the grain of the wood had to run front to back. However, construction for the Limerick says that it is important to have the direction running side to side. My solution is a laminate of wood added on the interior- going side to side. Think of it like a really thick plywood. Should be plenty strong. First I made the board by gluing a resawn piece of lumber, and then sanding it flat.
















All the angles had to be matched in order to get a good fit. Then it had to be glued to the bottom in exactly the right place.








Sweet- this is just about as good as it could get. I'm proud.
I was looking forward to doing this little bit of turning. The dowel on which the neck rests is of ebony. I had some just the right size, so it just needed to be turned and finish sanded. I rounded the ends- carefully, using the big belt sander with a 60 grit belt- kinda like running it on a gravel road. Then I sanded it to 220 on the belt sander.








This may not look too good yet- but I know what I'm doing- or at least I hope so. No way to cut this out square, so I just cut each profile using a 1/8" Timberwolf blade on my 37 year old Craftsman band saw with each side flat to the table. Now I just need to even it out some.








Here are some of the tools- a very coarse rasp and a coarse, round micro-plane file. Between the two and a bit of sandpaper it came out great. Finessed the groove for the dowel by wrapping sandpaper around the dowel and using it to make it a super fit- gotta give hubby credit for that idea.
















I haven't shown the soundboard and back board, but they are complete and ready to go in later on. Cutting and fitting took quite a while- but then I tapped on the boards while they were in place- and got a really great sound. A good omen for a great sounding harp- I hope.
















Now I get to cut the neck and pillar out of 2" thick cherry boards.
Time: 13 hours Total: 73


----------



## lightweightladylefty (Mar 27, 2008)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/25/2011 Sound Box Completed*
> 
> Isn't it strange how sometimes you can work and work and have nothing to show for it. Fortunately there are other times when a lot happens in a short period of time.
> 
> ...


Donna,

You're making good progress. Thanks for keeping us posted.

L/W


----------



## Artist (Feb 10, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/25/2011 Sound Box Completed*
> 
> Isn't it strange how sometimes you can work and work and have nothing to show for it. Fortunately there are other times when a lot happens in a short period of time.
> 
> ...


Ditto what Donna said.


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *1/25/2011 Sound Box Completed*
> 
> Isn't it strange how sometimes you can work and work and have nothing to show for it. Fortunately there are other times when a lot happens in a short period of time.
> 
> ...


Autumn- yes, the dowel pivot is common on a few different harp plans. MusicMakers uses it on a couple of their harps: http://www.harpkit.com/mm5/graphics/shoppingcart/voyageurs.jpg That is also the company where I bought my original harp plans and the hardware and strings for this new harp.
Everything that has gone into the design for this harp has come from something I've seen somewhere and thought that I'd like to see it in my harp. There is just not another one that has them all together in one harp- except my harp.


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

*2/12/2011 Harp and Stand Roughed Out*

Seventeen days- long time between posts. I meant to make a break between the harp and stand constructions, but they kinda ran together. First, here is what happened to the harp:








I used my trusty Jet 14" band saw with a nice new 3/4" Timberwolf blade to cut out the pillar, neck, and neck reinforcement using 1 7/8" thick cherry wood.








This is what they looked like when all cut out. Then I needed to make holes in them for dowels to reinforce the pillar/neck joint.








These are 3" long, 1/2" diameter redheart dowels set into the holes, but not glued. Nothing will get permanently glued until much later.








Once the pillar and neck were aligned with the harp I could make a temporary attachment of the bottom of the pillar to the base of the harp with a big screw. This will help to hold everything together.








The ebony dowel meets great now with the harp body and the neck.








Here it is altogether- whew! I am happy that everything looks like a decent fit- so far.
The harp is just roughed out- lots of work needs to be done, but I'm going to switch over to the stand now because I know that if I don't bring it along at the same rate as the harp- it will never get done.
Time spent on harp to the end of January: 13 this time, 86 total.
















*HARP STAND*
The angles on the stand are tricky, to say the least. The shelf holds everything together, so it is most critical that it be accurate. Chicken that I am I decided to make it in pine wood first.








Even that wasn't easy, but when everything fit together well I felt better about committing my precious cherry wood.








There was a lot of fine tuning needed to get the cherry legs to fit with the shelf, but I had to get a firm fit there in order to figure out how to make the top of the stand.








Making the holes straight up and down for the pegs to go through the top of the stand was quite a feat. Here I've arranged the nice new angle gauge to the correct angle, and this will go to the drill press for drilling. . . except I have it angled wrong! Good thing hubby came by to help me to hold it steady for drilling. He noticed that I was going in the wrong direction. Saved by the hubby.








Here I'm using a hand drill to drill through the top of the stand into the base of the harp. This is for the brass pins to be able to hold everything in alignment. I got everything crooked, but managed to straighten them out enough and yet not poke through the sides of the wood. It is nothing short of a miracle. I shudda made a jig for the drilling. Live and learn.








This is the roughly completed harp and stand in cherry. The stand tusk tenon pins are in basswood here, but they will be cherry for the finished project.








Lest you think that the harp is nearing completion, here is a close-up of the harp base- not very refined yet. Edges need a lot of shaping- not sure what I'm going to do yet.
















Here up at the top the reinforcement will need a lot of carving to get to the shape I have in mind. Good- I like the carving parts of this job.
I hate to admit it, but I've spent 41 hours on the stand. Added to the 86 harp time that makes 127 hours on the project so far.
Keep in mind that this is a prototype- no plans to work from, so everything is experimental and takes more time- and I'm slow.


----------



## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

DonnaMenke said:


> *2/12/2011 Harp and Stand Roughed Out*
> 
> Seventeen days- long time between posts. I meant to make a break between the harp and stand constructions, but they kinda ran together. First, here is what happened to the harp:
> 
> ...


Looks great! Very ambitious undertaking!
I have, back in my dusty archives, a set of plans for a full-size harp. It's really the only woodworking plans I've ever bought. It requires the purchase of several "Fender" guitar tuning heads. When I bought the plans back in the 80's, there was no way really to find used Fender parts, but now they are quite common on eBay, seems like everyone wants to upgrade their tuning heads. But… the cheapest price I could find for a set of strings was like, $800!! Yikes, I'd figured on using either piano, guitar or cello strings. But, it clearly stated in the plans that there were no legitimate substitutions, and went into a dizzying explanation of music audionics. Anyway, Donna, I'm betting you have a better source for strings and hardware! did you use Sitka Spruce for your soundboard? Keep us posted on your progress!


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *2/12/2011 Harp and Stand Roughed Out*
> 
> Seventeen days- long time between posts. I meant to make a break between the harp and stand constructions, but they kinda ran together. First, here is what happened to the harp:
> 
> ...


Hi Poopiekat- sounds like the harp plans are for the South American version of harp- they use guitar tuning screws instead of traditional harp tuning pins. Also, in their design the strings come out the middle of the neck instead of on one side. That is a better design for strength. There is also usually a turned pillar on those harps.
I have gotten my supplies from Musikits.com. They are very helpful and reliable.
My soundboard is 6-ply, 1/8" aircraft plywood. Finnish birch- made in Finland no less. Very excellent quality and good resonance. Practically unbreakable, very stable, and quite resonant. Solid wood boards have all sorts of built-in problems that don't exist for the plywood.
I will keep you all posted- though the whole past week was spent debarking (5) 12' mountain cedar posts for the new pergola, and we've finished placing (4) 9' telephone sections to outline the expanded garden plot to 60' x 60'- and now we need to get planting soon. So, harp making may have to take a back seat for a while. I still hope to have it done by the end of March- but that may be wishful thinking.


----------



## Bearpie (Feb 19, 2010)

DonnaMenke said:


> *2/12/2011 Harp and Stand Roughed Out*
> 
> Seventeen days- long time between posts. I meant to make a break between the harp and stand constructions, but they kinda ran together. First, here is what happened to the harp:
> 
> ...


Looks like a time consuming job and so far looks like you are more than capable of completing it so I'll say good luck and I will be watching for the completed project!

Erwin, Jacksonville, FL


----------



## BarbS (Mar 20, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *2/12/2011 Harp and Stand Roughed Out*
> 
> Seventeen days- long time between posts. I meant to make a break between the harp and stand constructions, but they kinda ran together. First, here is what happened to the harp:
> 
> ...


That's coming together beautifully, Donna. I admire your spunk! and I was startled to read it is the prototype. What wood will you use for the real thing? Your cherry version may serve as a second harp!


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *2/12/2011 Harp and Stand Roughed Out*
> 
> Seventeen days- long time between posts. I meant to make a break between the harp and stand constructions, but they kinda ran together. First, here is what happened to the harp:
> 
> ...


Prototype - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from. 
What I mean is that it is a new design- no plans exist except as I make them. This is the real harp- and it may never be duplicated! It has been a difficult process, but now I'm into the 'artsie' carving parts and I like that.


----------



## lightweightladylefty (Mar 27, 2008)

DonnaMenke said:


> *2/12/2011 Harp and Stand Roughed Out*
> 
> Seventeen days- long time between posts. I meant to make a break between the harp and stand constructions, but they kinda ran together. First, here is what happened to the harp:
> 
> ...


Donna,

It's looks like you're making good progress! Keep it up. The end of March sounds really ambitious, but you've come a long way in not much time so you'll probably conquer it!

You're blessed to be able to think about planting. We're expecting up to 15 inches of snow tomorrow!

L/W


----------



## RonPeters (Jul 7, 2010)

DonnaMenke said:


> *2/12/2011 Harp and Stand Roughed Out*
> 
> Seventeen days- long time between posts. I meant to make a break between the harp and stand constructions, but they kinda ran together. First, here is what happened to the harp:
> 
> ...


Donna,
This is coming along nicely! Very 'sexy' sitting on top of that stand like that…;-) Very nice lines. Nothing wrong with a prototype. I'd make one out of pine all the way, then the good stuff, especially cherry…it don't grow on trees ya know!

$800 for harp strings? Try violin strings, $80 for 4 for the good ones. There's more than 10 strings on a harp and you don't change them every few months.

Can you explain the ebony dowel? Does the frame just sit statically on that pivot point - held in place by the tension of the strings?

Impressive work.


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *2/12/2011 Harp and Stand Roughed Out*
> 
> Seventeen days- long time between posts. I meant to make a break between the harp and stand constructions, but they kinda ran together. First, here is what happened to the harp:
> 
> ...


Thanks to everyone for the fine comments and encouragement. I need it sometimes. 
Autumn- wait until I get the mother of pearl wings on the neck- then it will be sexy indeed- thanks to you. 
Ron- the ebony dowel will function as you said as a fulcrum which will allow the neck to pivot as the strings are tightened, and the strings are what holds it all together. I may secure the dowel to the body with a small dowel in small holes just to keep it from sliding side to side. I'm kinda intimidated by the thought of doing this drilling job, but it would be better to do it now than to wait and wish I'd done it as the strings tightened.
L/W- high seventies here daytimes and lows mid sixties overnight- hubby and I are hoping for bad weather before we kill ourselves with outside work. In April I will be preparing for carving classes I'll be giving so I could still work on finish if the rest were done. Have to be careful not to be too ambitious in planting the garden- 'someone' after all will have to weed it.
Carving on the 'knuckle' on the neck today- still haven't decided how I'll do it- so I'm just winging it.


----------



## RonPeters (Jul 7, 2010)

DonnaMenke said:


> *2/12/2011 Harp and Stand Roughed Out*
> 
> Seventeen days- long time between posts. I meant to make a break between the harp and stand constructions, but they kinda ran together. First, here is what happened to the harp:
> 
> ...


If there was a way to add a 1/4" lip at the center of the ebony dowel you could mate it to the neck and the upright. It would keep it from sliding off - no dowel hole necessary then. Each piece looks thick enough to allow for the mating groove. Or perhaps a center groove in the ebony itself with centered mating lips on the neck and upright?

And yet another version could have a center groove on all three pieces to be mated by a wood 'ring' that fit around the ebony dowel and mated to both edges?

If you turned the ebony, it would be easy to allow for the lip then.

Maybe the next version?


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *2/12/2011 Harp and Stand Roughed Out*
> 
> Seventeen days- long time between posts. I meant to make a break between the harp and stand constructions, but they kinda ran together. First, here is what happened to the harp:
> 
> ...


What good ideas you have, Ron. I never thought of that. They would pivot then but not slide. As you said- maybe next time. Thanks for the suggestions.


----------



## lightweightladylefty (Mar 27, 2008)

DonnaMenke said:


> *2/12/2011 Harp and Stand Roughed Out*
> 
> Seventeen days- long time between posts. I meant to make a break between the harp and stand constructions, but they kinda ran together. First, here is what happened to the harp:
> 
> ...


Donna,

If you have another piece of ebony you could re-do your dowel with Ron's idea or . . . what about adding a slightly larger ball or disc at either end of the dowel? You could carve a fabulous design in each end then, too. It would change the look of your design but would serve the same purpose. (Just some thoughts we had in reading over the comments)

L/W


----------



## followyourheart (Feb 3, 2010)

DonnaMenke said:


> *2/12/2011 Harp and Stand Roughed Out*
> 
> Seventeen days- long time between posts. I meant to make a break between the harp and stand constructions, but they kinda ran together. First, here is what happened to the harp:
> 
> ...


Great work, Donna, and interesting to see how a harp goes together.


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

*Continuing Saga*

Time flies when you are having fun. I thought I'd have the harp almost done by now- but life interfered and not much progress has been made. The new garden fencing is done, and the new pergola too, so now I can get back to harp making.
Here are some progress photos taken on and off over the past month:
























I cut some plugs from the cherry and used them to fill the messy holes in the top of the harp. I thought that round, filled, holes would look better than the grooves, but the tear out from the drill bit in the end grain was disastrous. Filled and sanded they were not too bad- but I should have just filled the slots with pieces of thin wood. . . would have looked better.
















The next disaster was finding that the wood in the neck was damaged on the inside, and I thought I could carve away the bad splits- but they went deeper than I thought they would. What a mess!
So, I dug out the ancient and seldom used portable belt sander and put a very coarse belt on it and sanded away the mess. Lost about 1/4" of the thickness. Good thing it was too thick to begin with. Now it is just about right.
















Here I'm hand carving the shape of the pillar. I don't want to have a router-generated profile, but a graceful shape that is not and could not be machine generated.
















The shoulder/knuckle is an important design element, and I want this to look really graceful. I'm taking off little bits at a time and sneaking up on the shape in my mind.
















Once the holes were drilled and the shaping complete I could join the pillar and neck. This was a bit nerve wracking since it was so important that they fit with the body- but I checked a dozen times, so I think it will be OK.
















The soundboard was drilled for the strings and the back was cut out for access to the interior, and to let the sound out; and then they were glued to the soundbox. Still some trim work top and bottom of front and back, and finish shaping to do on the base.








Once that is all done I can focus on the dragonfly inlay. I have the mother of pearl wings and ruby eyes ready to go on the holly octagon with the pink ivory frame. This will all take a while, but bit by bit it will get done. Then it will be inlaid into the side of the neck above the pillar. It should look pretty good.


----------



## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Continuing Saga*
> 
> Time flies when you are having fun. I thought I'd have the harp almost done by now- but life interfered and not much progress has been made. The new garden fencing is done, and the new pergola too, so now I can get back to harp making.
> Here are some progress photos taken on and off over the past month:
> ...


you are very good at problem-solving, aren't you!!

Nice saves.


----------



## kenn (Mar 19, 2008)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Continuing Saga*
> 
> Time flies when you are having fun. I thought I'd have the harp almost done by now- but life interfered and not much progress has been made. The new garden fencing is done, and the new pergola too, so now I can get back to harp making.
> Here are some progress photos taken on and off over the past month:
> ...


Fascinating!


----------



## patron (Apr 2, 2009)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Continuing Saga*
> 
> Time flies when you are having fun. I thought I'd have the harp almost done by now- but life interfered and not much progress has been made. The new garden fencing is done, and the new pergola too, so now I can get back to harp making.
> Here are some progress photos taken on and off over the past month:
> ...


nice save on those problems

sometimes what we see 
and what the wood see's
can be different

it's good you are open to new ideas

that can lead to some spectacular work

like a reward for being open minded

well done


----------



## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Continuing Saga*
> 
> Time flies when you are having fun. I thought I'd have the harp almost done by now- but life interfered and not much progress has been made. The new garden fencing is done, and the new pergola too, so now I can get back to harp making.
> Here are some progress photos taken on and off over the past month:
> ...


It's coming along real nice Donna. Nice save with the sander too.


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Continuing Saga*
> 
> Time flies when you are having fun. I thought I'd have the harp almost done by now- but life interfered and not much progress has been made. The new garden fencing is done, and the new pergola too, so now I can get back to harp making.
> Here are some progress photos taken on and off over the past month:
> ...


Thanks to everyone for the nice comments and encouragement. I am working on it more now that it is raining. I know that you guys in the snowy and cold have difficulty understanding this concept- but there can be too much of a good thing. Having beautiful weather day after day for months on end can really hurt the inside jobs. We suffer from drought more often than not though, so whenever it rains it is an occasion for rejoicing- and heading for the shop.
Finishing up trim and final rough sanding today- then can focus on the inlay- wish me luck with that job. I think I may be just a bit terrified of messing it up. Autumn's tutorial is my guide, so I should be good.Thanks, Autumn.


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

*Almost Finished!*

Lots of vegetable gardening done in the past couple of months, and it could not wait, so the harp building project had to wait a while. Finally last week I got back into it after 6 weeks of seldom working on it. Now it is almost done- but let me go back to where I left off in March.
















I had these beautiful abalone mother-of-pearl wings provided to me by a fine Lumberjock. She also did a great blog about how to do inlays, and that was very helpful to me. I didn't follow instructions exactly (remind me to kick myself in the butt next time) but decided I could hand carve the voids for the dragonfly.
















It went pretty well actually, though I found out too late that one of the wings set into the void at an angle (my fault) and I had to sand a lot to get it all flat. No harm done- except to my fingertips.
















I used my micromotor tool with a carbide cutter to gently shape the body of the dragonfly to fit between the wings. The central edges of the wings were trimmed a tad after they were epoxied into place.








Getting the eye-sockets big enough to hold the ruby eyes was a trick. There was not much wood to work with, but ebony is a wonderfully dense wood, and it is strong. The holes are 4mm long, and the area between them is less than 1mm wide. The hole between the eye-sockets will let the light shining into one eye to shine through to the other eye. I also lined the sockets with aluminum foil to reflect light like a mirror through the rubies.








After the inlay was done I needed to frame it with 1/8" wide pink ivory pieces. This was not easy. If I were to do it again I would do it differently- using the 'big boy tools'- table saw and router table. My Mickey Mouse approach using band saw and lots of sanding was not too efficient, but it did work OK.
This was tricky. I attached the holly to a piece of scrap using light-duty double-sided tape, and then epoxied the frame pieces to the sides of the holly. The tape helped to keep everything together. The tongue depressor was used to tuck the frame pieces snugly against the holly. I'm sure there must be a better way- I just could not think of one.
















Figuring out how to finish off some raw edges took a lot of head-scratching. I ultimately settled on a curvy border design to echo some of the curves in the neck and pillar. Again I did it the hard way with band saw and lots of hand sanding. Labor intensive, true- but lots of control too.
My gluing left a lot to be desired as you can see in the photo with dried squeeze-out. For shame. And at the corner there is a patch job that is less than gorgeous. So a little more time spent scraping and sanding to get the same place looking like the second photo.
































Tis series of 4 photos shows the evolution of the reinforcing piece from wood choice and design to finish. I chose pink ivory because it is beautiful, and matched the pink ivory frame on the insert. And, I like pink.
After gluing it in place using yellow glue I shaped it with power sanders, this scraper, and (yet again) lots of hand sanding. The pay off was in putting the oil finish and seeing the colors of the wood as they will look on the finished harp. (note- oiling was done all at once- this photo out of sequence)








Now, to inlay the inlay into the harp. I used double-sided tape to hold it in place as I traced around it with a good carving knife. One could use a scribe, but a deeper cut is better. I started shallow and then made multiple cuts until it was deep enough.








Mostly I used this wide carving chisel to make the stop cuts around the perimeter of the inlay area. Then, I used a variety of shallow and smaller gouges to clean it out down to the 1/8" goal.








Ta-da! Doesn't look too pretty, but it is all I need to make a good gluing surface for the inlay.








I wasn't sure if I wanted to go straight to the Arm-R-Seal clear finish, or start with a tinted Watco oil in Cherry, so I did a sample on a similar piece of cherry to see the difference. I could see no difference- they both looked great to me, but hubby liked the oil so I proceeded to coat the entire harp with the oil first.
I had forgotten two things:
#1. Cherry tends to stain blotchy
#2 The white woods would also be stained since there was no way to keep them from the oil.
















Well, the insert looks good in this photo, though there is a gray area in the holly that I don't think I can do anything about at this point. It was on the back of the holly too.
The neck and pillar are pretty uneven in color now, but I'm hoping that it will even out when the oil has cured.








The soundboard has me worried because the stain took strangely to the 600 grit sanded birch ply. It may look good when the clear finish is on. Or, maybe I should sand it before the final finish. Opinions?








The stand looks best of all. With such smooth and sanded surfaces it was a no-brainer. Hmmmm.








This is the ebony pivot dowel with a piece of brass rod inserted to keep it from sliding sideways on the harp body. This way the end of the neck can pivot freely as the strings tighten. It looks a lot better with finish, but I wanted to not forget this part. Drilling the holes were a lot easier than anticipated- whew.
Post-Script
Now I know you are all thinking. . . finally, all done. Hah. Nope. At least 2 coats of Arm-R-Seal with two surfaces at a time and plenty of drying/curing time in between.
When that is all dry as a bone it is time to fit her out with some jewelry- the soundboard hole reinforcement, and the tuning pins, and the other pins.
Then- the strings, and tuning. Tuning will take a couple of weeks of daily tuning, more than once a day, before it will stay in pitch for more than a minute. I will post a video before then though- so we can all hear how it sounds. Also, I want to show everyone how the stand goes together and fits with the harp. Stay tuned.


----------



## MrWoodworker (Apr 18, 2011)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Almost Finished!*
> 
> Lots of vegetable gardening done in the past couple of months, and it could not wait, so the harp building project had to wait a while. Finally last week I got back into it after 6 weeks of seldom working on it. Now it is almost done- but let me go back to where I left off in March.
> 
> ...


Lovely!


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## ajsons (Apr 7, 2010)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Almost Finished!*
> 
> Lots of vegetable gardening done in the past couple of months, and it could not wait, so the harp building project had to wait a while. Finally last week I got back into it after 6 weeks of seldom working on it. Now it is almost done- but let me go back to where I left off in March.
> 
> ...


We'll stay in tune.
Great job.


----------



## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Almost Finished!*
> 
> Lots of vegetable gardening done in the past couple of months, and it could not wait, so the harp building project had to wait a while. Finally last week I got back into it after 6 weeks of seldom working on it. Now it is almost done- but let me go back to where I left off in March.
> 
> ...


Donna that dragonfly inlay is gorgeous. Nicely done. Sorry I can't help much with those finishing questions but it's looking very nice. I'm going to be starting my pre staining and first few coats of Arm R Seal as well this weekend.


----------



## HerbC (Jul 28, 2010)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Almost Finished!*
> 
> Lots of vegetable gardening done in the past couple of months, and it could not wait, so the harp building project had to wait a while. Finally last week I got back into it after 6 weeks of seldom working on it. Now it is almost done- but let me go back to where I left off in March.
> 
> ...


Donna,

Excellent. I've recently read your blog series and wondered what had happened. Glad you're making good progress.

Be Careful!

Herb


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Almost Finished!*
> 
> Lots of vegetable gardening done in the past couple of months, and it could not wait, so the harp building project had to wait a while. Finally last week I got back into it after 6 weeks of seldom working on it. Now it is almost done- but let me go back to where I left off in March.
> 
> ...


Autumn- I usually wuss out and chose the less powered way to doing woodwork. I feel comfortable with carving chiselds, and in all modesty- there is not much I cannot do with them. 16 years of practice! I would panic at using the router- though if I'd had a trim router or router attachment for the Dremel I may have attempted it that way. My 2HP PC router is just too big.
I enjoy seeing the progress too- keeps me going when the going gets rough.
Next project is going to be the pull-toy grasshopper mentioned here before. I bought the book (as well as another toy-making book) so I have the plans and I'm ready to get started- in July after the International Woodcarvers' Congress in IA.. There is a little 3 year-old who I just know would love it. I also found a pull-toy dragonfly in one of my reference books that I want to attempt. It looks difficult, but I think I will be able to apply my band saw box making techniques to simplify construction. Guess I'll do blogs on them too- I like making blogs- and getting responses from the peanut gallery- LOL.


----------



## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Almost Finished!*
> 
> Lots of vegetable gardening done in the past couple of months, and it could not wait, so the harp building project had to wait a while. Finally last week I got back into it after 6 weeks of seldom working on it. Now it is almost done- but let me go back to where I left off in March.
> 
> ...


I'm sorry to have missed so much of this really interesting project Donna, but I have to say that your results are just amazing and beautiful, and I'm very impressed with the precision of your hand chiseled inlay cavities too. I love your dragonfly motif. We see just a few dragonfly's in our garden each summer, but they are always spectacular and my favorite insect to view. I hope I won't miss the rest of your blogs on this project.


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Almost Finished!*
> 
> Lots of vegetable gardening done in the past couple of months, and it could not wait, so the harp building project had to wait a while. Finally last week I got back into it after 6 weeks of seldom working on it. Now it is almost done- but let me go back to where I left off in March.
> 
> ...


Stefan- I'm glad you found it interesting. You can see all of the previous posts by clicking on the Dragonfly Harp series link at the top of this entry. Brace yourself- it is long. So far I think there are around 120 photos with text- and I'm not done yet!
The finish is done and I gotta say in all modesty (hah!) that it is stunning. We put it together today to show a visitor and it about took my breath away.
If you 'watch' this blog you will be notified by email when it is updated.


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

*5-11-2011 to 6-11-2011 Disaster!*

6-18-2011
The harp broke as the strings were tightened- way back to a month ago. I was devastated, since I had little time to fix it (and everything else I had to do) in time for the show, carving and box-making seminars in June. I will show you here what I did to finish the harp for the first time and discovering the BIG PROBLEM.
With the next blog installment, I'll go into what I did to fix the BIG PROBLEM.








The figure on the soundboard is very erratic- looks like a mistake though I actually chose to use that section of the aircraft ply thinking that it looked interesting. I decided to 'fix' the problem by adding a light wash of blue-green dye to the wood to complement the mother-of-pearl dragonfly wing inlays.. It already had a finish on it with the Arm-R-Seal, so I had to work quickly to try to avoid blotching. I experimented with the dyes first to get a nice greenish-blue, but I forgot that the wood already had a yellowish tint to it- resulting in a more greenish hue than I'd wanted. So- I tried to sand it to make it less obvious, but as you can see in the photo the 400 grit paper filled in almost immediately. It did lessen the impact of the puke-green a bit.








I also applied a second coat of finish to all surfaces of the harp and stand after a light sanding. It looks better with more coats,but it takes forever to get to all the areas.








Now this is what I was aiming for when I was first thinking about how to improve on the bulky and squared top on the Limerick/Rainbow harp. It took a lot of work to shape the wood , but it was worth it to me.








Here is another view of that curve with me adding the tuning pins and bridge pins. I'd rather hit my fingers at this point then hurt my harp finish.








My favorite part of the harp- of course- the dragonfly inlay. So much work- but it is worth it now to have it exactly as I wanted it. Not to be too critical, but if I had it to do over again I would have integrated the inlay a bit better with the overall design of the harp. This way though it is like a piece of jewelry the harp is wearing. Not a bad thing.















This is a close-up of the grain I sought first to emphasize- and then to minimize. It is what it is- no changing now- it has the string grommets in place.















Here I am pulling one of the 26 strings through the brass grommet in the soundboard, and then up to the tuning pin. Time consuming process- then tuning. They say it takes 50 tunings on a new harp to get it to stay in tune more than a minute or two. The strings stretch, the wooden neck bows, and the soundboard bellies up; so it always goes flat. Tuning was fun though, because I knew that very soon it would sound really good. It was already proving that the changes I made to the Limerick design did not reduce the sound at all. It sounded great- for a minute or two anyhow.








This is how the ends of the strings are secured on the inside of the harp. They need to be very well secured or they will pull through the soundboard as the strings exert a whole lot of pressure. This was my last moment of happiness for a while. Note the darkness at the bottom of the harp interior- before any strings are tightened.















This is what I discovered after 3 days of tuning twice a day. It is fortunate that I'd decided to take some photos of the 'finished harp' and saw the light shining through the bottom interior. Ye gods and little fishes- what a disaster! I knew how to fix it,and I knew it was not a quick fix. What was amazing to me was that I'd thought that the joint would hold with just a thin line of glue. What a dummy. I should have known better. In the close up of the front you can see how the bottom of the pillar kept the soundboard from pulling completely up- and breaking.
I will show in the next entry just how I fixed the problem, but first I want to show you the pictures I took right after loosening all of the strings so that the soundboard would not crack/break.








How sweet it is to see everything- well almost everything- working out so well.
















Back side- still does look like a 'walking man' I think.
















Here is how the shelf part of the stand works. Some music could sit there too. I like this feature.


----------



## sailboard (Apr 6, 2011)

DonnaMenke said:


> *5-11-2011 to 6-11-2011 Disaster!*
> 
> 6-18-2011
> The harp broke as the strings were tightened- way back to a month ago. I was devastated, since I had little time to fix it (and everything else I had to do) in time for the show, carving and box-making seminars in June. I will show you here what I did to finish the harp for the first time and discovering the BIG PROBLEM.
> ...


I thought I took on tough projects, but this was really something special! Congrats to you.

Steve


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *5-11-2011 to 6-11-2011 Disaster!*
> 
> 6-18-2011
> The harp broke as the strings were tightened- way back to a month ago. I was devastated, since I had little time to fix it (and everything else I had to do) in time for the show, carving and box-making seminars in June. I will show you here what I did to finish the harp for the first time and discovering the BIG PROBLEM.
> ...


Thanks, Steve, and the blog isn't really done yet. You will enjoy the way I fixed it. It cannot come undone now- no matter what. Remember- no gain without pain- LOL.


----------



## BarbS (Mar 20, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *5-11-2011 to 6-11-2011 Disaster!*
> 
> 6-18-2011
> The harp broke as the strings were tightened- way back to a month ago. I was devastated, since I had little time to fix it (and everything else I had to do) in time for the show, carving and box-making seminars in June. I will show you here what I did to finish the harp for the first time and discovering the BIG PROBLEM.
> ...


Oh Donna, what a heart break that must have been. That you Fixed it is wonderful; looking forward to more blog!


----------



## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

DonnaMenke said:


> *5-11-2011 to 6-11-2011 Disaster!*
> 
> 6-18-2011
> The harp broke as the strings were tightened- way back to a month ago. I was devastated, since I had little time to fix it (and everything else I had to do) in time for the show, carving and box-making seminars in June. I will show you here what I did to finish the harp for the first time and discovering the BIG PROBLEM.
> ...


I somehow had missed your latest posts. I am glad to have caught up. Also happy to hear that your fix worked out. I'm looking forward to the rest of the story. Beautiful instrument!!


----------



## S4S (Jan 22, 2011)

DonnaMenke said:


> *5-11-2011 to 6-11-2011 Disaster!*
> 
> 6-18-2011
> The harp broke as the strings were tightened- way back to a month ago. I was devastated, since I had little time to fix it (and everything else I had to do) in time for the show, carving and box-making seminars in June. I will show you here what I did to finish the harp for the first time and discovering the BIG PROBLEM.
> ...


Looking forward to your solution , Beautiful work !


----------



## Artist (Feb 10, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *5-11-2011 to 6-11-2011 Disaster!*
> 
> 6-18-2011
> The harp broke as the strings were tightened- way back to a month ago. I was devastated, since I had little time to fix it (and everything else I had to do) in time for the show, carving and box-making seminars in June. I will show you here what I did to finish the harp for the first time and discovering the BIG PROBLEM.
> ...


Thanks for showing up, can't wait to hear and see the rest. Glad you were able to fix the problem it had.

Diane


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *5-11-2011 to 6-11-2011 Disaster!*
> 
> 6-18-2011
> The harp broke as the strings were tightened- way back to a month ago. I was devastated, since I had little time to fix it (and everything else I had to do) in time for the show, carving and box-making seminars in June. I will show you here what I did to finish the harp for the first time and discovering the BIG PROBLEM.
> ...


Thanks Autumn- and others- the mother-of-pearl dragonfly wings have gotten a lot of attention on the harp in the show. They may not recognize the skill involved in the inlays- no filler at all- but they know beautiful when they see it. Just to give you an idea of the quality of this show- one of our 'Best in Class' winners recently one 'Best in World' with his aquatic themed carving. 
This is an idea of my competition in the same class as the harp: 
http://www.midamericawoodcarvers.com/Bezic_Projects_2.jpg
So I don't feel too bad-


----------



## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *5-11-2011 to 6-11-2011 Disaster!*
> 
> 6-18-2011
> The harp broke as the strings were tightened- way back to a month ago. I was devastated, since I had little time to fix it (and everything else I had to do) in time for the show, carving and box-making seminars in June. I will show you here what I did to finish the harp for the first time and discovering the BIG PROBLEM.
> ...


ooooh my-- my heart stopped, I'm sure!

I love the shelf! Brilliant.


----------



## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

*6-19-2011 Finally Really Finished*

Fixing the popped soundboard was not too difficult, though it did take some time. I knew instantly how to fix it so that the problem would never reoccur. I needed a block to connect the soundboard firmly and immovably to the sturdy base. I sure wish I'd though about this from the start of the project.








I cut the trapezoidal block to shape matching the harp's angles on the table saw and then cut it to length and removed a piece to go around the bottom of the string band.








It also needed an arc removed so that the head of the bolt would have room.








Then the problem was how to hold it firmly in place while the glue dried when there was little access to the interior of the harp. I wanted to use bent sticks, but there was no way to get a long stick into the harp through the access holes- believe me I tried everything- including cutting the sticks and then gluing them together inside the harp. No way. What a mess.








Finally, my husband suggested using the hole in the harp to make a clamp through the base. Utter genius! Now I know why we have been married for 44 years. It was an elegant solution utilizing the hole and the clamping pressure that was normally used to hold the harp to the stand. I had the parts made within minutes using just scrap already on the workbench.








This is how it looked on the exterior. The scrap of 1/8" ply helped to distribute the pressure of the knob and there was no damage at all to the finish.








This is how the clamp looked on the inside. Worked superbly. Used lots of glue.








I wasn't about to trust a glue joint again- even though this one had maybe 20 times the glue surface and would probably never give way- I was not going to take any chances. So I drilled through the bottom of the base of the harp into the repair block and glued in some redheart dowels. They looked terrible even after sanding and I fiddled with some oil with stain again- and then it looked worse. Oh misery!








Yeah- after the finish was applied again it looked great- whew- sigh of relief. Even though this is the bottom of he harp I did not want it too look ugly. This is nice.








Then I wanted to secure the soundboard to the block. Removing the securely glued trim strip was not an option, so I went right through it and the soundboard with steel screws countersunk to just under the surface of the wood. Glue applied on this joint at this time. Hubby noticed that they were not at the same height- darn it all.








I took this picture because I was very proud of the fact that I did not come through the block with all the drilling that I had to do. I was dreading finding holes visible on the interior.
Got lucky.








I made plugs in the same cherry wood to disguise the heads of the screws on the front. They were about 1/16" thick. I thought I could chisel them smooth to the front, and then sand, but the result was terrible.








Add to this the irregularity of their location and I had a problem. The solution came to me in wanting to add more ebony accents.








I cut some larger ebony plugs and reduced them to 1/16" thickness, and rounded their edges over to the back. Then I sanded the heck out of them until they were the same smoothness as the other ebony accents and glued them over the messy cherry plugs- both at the same height from the base. After a bunch more sanding and carefully applied finish the repair was done.
And it looked super.
I haven't taken a photo of the harp since the repair was finish, but you saw the finished harp in the last blog entry and the only visible difference is the addition of the ebony plugs to the front.
I hope you have enjoyed reading about my trials and tribulations as well as my fixes and eventual successes.
I enjoy reading your comments- and stay tuned- I plan to put a video clip at the end of this in a few weeks when the harp stays in tune- then you can hear how it sounds. Donna
PS- I did continue to keep track of my time spent on this project, though I was less accurate during the repair phase. I give it 210 hours overall, with 165 for the harp and 45 for the stand.


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## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

DonnaMenke said:


> *6-19-2011 Finally Really Finished*
> 
> Fixing the popped soundboard was not too difficult, though it did take some time. I knew instantly how to fix it so that the problem would never reoccur. I needed a block to connect the soundboard firmly and immovably to the sturdy base. I sure wish I'd though about this from the start of the project.
> 
> ...


Nice repair job - the sign of a good woodworker is in the ability to deal with the unexpected. I say you passed admirably!


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

DonnaMenke said:


> *6-19-2011 Finally Really Finished*
> 
> Fixing the popped soundboard was not too difficult, though it did take some time. I knew instantly how to fix it so that the problem would never reoccur. I needed a block to connect the soundboard firmly and immovably to the sturdy base. I sure wish I'd though about this from the start of the project.
> 
> ...


Strong showing. I appreciate the beautiful photographs.


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *6-19-2011 Finally Really Finished*
> 
> Fixing the popped soundboard was not too difficult, though it did take some time. I knew instantly how to fix it so that the problem would never reoccur. I needed a block to connect the soundboard firmly and immovably to the sturdy base. I sure wish I'd though about this from the start of the project.
> 
> ...


Thanks fellow Lumberjocks. It has been an interesting learning experience. Charting my progress by keeping/making a blog takes a bit of time, but it helps me to stay on track and get the job done. 
As for the photos- let me count. . . oh yeah, I took just under 300 photos to get the 151 used in the blog. Not bad that for some publications I've taken 4 for every one used.
I almost cannot do a project any more without documenting it. Have you seen some of my other blogs- on wood carving. There are links to them on my web site home page.


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## Pop (Aug 6, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *6-19-2011 Finally Really Finished*
> 
> Fixing the popped soundboard was not too difficult, though it did take some time. I knew instantly how to fix it so that the problem would never reoccur. I needed a block to connect the soundboard firmly and immovably to the sturdy base. I sure wish I'd though about this from the start of the project.
> 
> ...


Hi Donna,
I've always been told any woodworker can make a mess of a project. The great woodworker is the one who knows how to fix it. Carry on you're doing great work.

Pop


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *6-19-2011 Finally Really Finished*
> 
> Fixing the popped soundboard was not too difficult, though it did take some time. I knew instantly how to fix it so that the problem would never reoccur. I needed a block to connect the soundboard firmly and immovably to the sturdy base. I sure wish I'd though about this from the start of the project.
> 
> ...


Thanks Pop- I agree with that philosophy. One has to not get too discouraged and just keep on as best they can. I enjoyed showing off my harp at the wood carving show. It may not have won a ribbon, but it got it's share of attention. I wonder how it would do in a wood working competition.


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## Broglea (Dec 9, 2009)

DonnaMenke said:


> *6-19-2011 Finally Really Finished*
> 
> Fixing the popped soundboard was not too difficult, though it did take some time. I knew instantly how to fix it so that the problem would never reoccur. I needed a block to connect the soundboard firmly and immovably to the sturdy base. I sure wish I'd though about this from the start of the project.
> 
> ...


Well done Donna. I can't wait to hear how it sounds.


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

*Ebony Plugs*

Here is the front of the harp with the ebony plugs in place. Looks a lot better now.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Ebony Plugs*
> 
> Here is the front of the harp with the ebony plugs in place. Looks a lot better now.


Exquisite!


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## Pop (Aug 6, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Ebony Plugs*
> 
> Here is the front of the harp with the ebony plugs in place. Looks a lot better now.


Ahhh Donna,
A touch of ebony never hurt anything, and it's beautiful.
Pop


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Ebony Plugs*
> 
> Here is the front of the harp with the ebony plugs in place. Looks a lot better now.


Thanks, Pop. I agree wholeheartedly. As a matter of fact, I turned some ebony eyes for some pull toys my daughter and I made a few weeks ago. Now, though, they are so precious we don't want to give them away!


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

*Music!*

OK- I have given up the plan to get a good professional-looking video and I'm going to just put up something that shows how the new harp plays. We have had unbelievable problems with our computer programs and I cannot get anything to work as it has for the past 4 years. So her is an un-edited Greensleeves played on the 26 string harp I designed and just finished building. the sound is not as good as with the video camera since it was taken with just a 5MB still camera in video mode. 




I used different features from many different harps to make a hybrid that was uniquely mine - and fulfilled my needs. The harp body, pillar and neck are made from walnut I had on hand, in addition to ebony used for the turned pivot where the knee-block meets the top of the box body. The dragonfly inlay has abalone shell wings and an ebony body, with real rubies for eyes. The dragonfly was inlayed into a piece of holly wood which was framed with pink ivory and then the whole assembly inlayed into the walnut of the neck.
If you would like to see how the harp was made please look at my blog: http://dragonflyharp.blogspot.com/ where I recorded the process step-by-step.
As for my playing, well I have been practicing on my own for 4 years now and this is the best I can do. I am a better harp builder than I am a player- but I enjoy both.
Donna Menke
http://www.woodworks-by-donna.com


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## NH_Hermit (Dec 3, 2009)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Music!*
> 
> OK- I have given up the plan to get a good professional-looking video and I'm going to just put up something that shows how the new harp plays. We have had unbelievable problems with our computer programs and I cannot get anything to work as it has for the past 4 years. So her is an un-edited Greensleeves played on the 26 string harp I designed and just finished building. the sound is not as good as with the video camera since it was taken with just a 5MB still camera in video mode.
> 
> ...


Very nice! Thank you for this.


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## Cosmicsniper (Oct 2, 2009)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Music!*
> 
> OK- I have given up the plan to get a good professional-looking video and I'm going to just put up something that shows how the new harp plays. We have had unbelievable problems with our computer programs and I cannot get anything to work as it has for the past 4 years. So her is an un-edited Greensleeves played on the 26 string harp I designed and just finished building. the sound is not as good as with the video camera since it was taken with just a 5MB still camera in video mode.
> 
> ...


I am very impressed by this, Donna. It's a beautiful instrument with a beautIful sound. Have always loved harps. Tremendous work, as both a harp maker and harp player!


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## Eagle1 (Jan 4, 2010)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Music!*
> 
> OK- I have given up the plan to get a good professional-looking video and I'm going to just put up something that shows how the new harp plays. We have had unbelievable problems with our computer programs and I cannot get anything to work as it has for the past 4 years. So her is an un-edited Greensleeves played on the 26 string harp I designed and just finished building. the sound is not as good as with the video camera since it was taken with just a 5MB still camera in video mode.
> 
> ...


Nice job on the harp I would never atempt that at all. I'm vocally incline but not insturment inclined. I also have your book. I look at it quite often, it gives me ideas on some boxes that I have drawn up. How long did it take you to do the box? Great works of art in it. Thanks again for the wonderfull book.


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## Brett1972 (Nov 5, 2010)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Music!*
> 
> OK- I have given up the plan to get a good professional-looking video and I'm going to just put up something that shows how the new harp plays. We have had unbelievable problems with our computer programs and I cannot get anything to work as it has for the past 4 years. So her is an un-edited Greensleeves played on the 26 string harp I designed and just finished building. the sound is not as good as with the video camera since it was taken with just a 5MB still camera in video mode.
> 
> ...


Great job Donna! A harp!? Wow! I'm not sure that I would attempt a project of that scale. I went and checked out your blog on building it too. That was A LOT of work. You must be proud of what you accomplished, I know I would be.


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## dustbunny (May 18, 2009)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Music!*
> 
> OK- I have given up the plan to get a good professional-looking video and I'm going to just put up something that shows how the new harp plays. We have had unbelievable problems with our computer programs and I cannot get anything to work as it has for the past 4 years. So her is an un-edited Greensleeves played on the 26 string harp I designed and just finished building. the sound is not as good as with the video camera since it was taken with just a 5MB still camera in video mode.
> 
> ...


Amazing work ! And the sound is fantastic.
Great artistic craftsmanship on this beautiful instrument : )

Lisa


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## miles125 (Jun 8, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Music!*
> 
> OK- I have given up the plan to get a good professional-looking video and I'm going to just put up something that shows how the new harp plays. We have had unbelievable problems with our computer programs and I cannot get anything to work as it has for the past 4 years. So her is an un-edited Greensleeves played on the 26 string harp I designed and just finished building. the sound is not as good as with the video camera since it was taken with just a 5MB still camera in video mode.
> 
> ...


Great job on the harp and it sounds wonderful.


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Music!*
> 
> OK- I have given up the plan to get a good professional-looking video and I'm going to just put up something that shows how the new harp plays. We have had unbelievable problems with our computer programs and I cannot get anything to work as it has for the past 4 years. So her is an un-edited Greensleeves played on the 26 string harp I designed and just finished building. the sound is not as good as with the video camera since it was taken with just a 5MB still camera in video mode.
> 
> ...


Thanks folks- I'm glad you liked the video. 
Tim, the boxes in the book took varying times depending on their complexity. Remember too that these were mostly prototypes, and like this harp, the prototype always takes longer. I have made a few boxes since then and a simple box usually takes a couple of afternoons, and then a few minutes over time for the finish. Of course, I could make 3 boxes in about the same period of time- it is the set-up that is time consuming, and sanding. 
You are welcome on the book- I am down to the last 50 copies and I'm feeling like seeing my kids off to college- sad and happy too. It has been fun to autograph and send off the 600 books I had here- and knowing that there are 16,000 more copies in print all over the world. It has been a fun ride.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Music!*
> 
> OK- I have given up the plan to get a good professional-looking video and I'm going to just put up something that shows how the new harp plays. We have had unbelievable problems with our computer programs and I cannot get anything to work as it has for the past 4 years. So her is an un-edited Greensleeves played on the 26 string harp I designed and just finished building. the sound is not as good as with the video camera since it was taken with just a 5MB still camera in video mode.
> 
> ...


that is freekin beautiful… very awesome


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## Karson (May 9, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Music!*
> 
> OK- I have given up the plan to get a good professional-looking video and I'm going to just put up something that shows how the new harp plays. We have had unbelievable problems with our computer programs and I cannot get anything to work as it has for the past 4 years. So her is an un-edited Greensleeves played on the 26 string harp I designed and just finished building. the sound is not as good as with the video camera since it was taken with just a 5MB still camera in video mode.
> 
> ...


Donna: A great job on the harp.

A nice challenge.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Music!*
> 
> OK- I have given up the plan to get a good professional-looking video and I'm going to just put up something that shows how the new harp plays. We have had unbelievable problems with our computer programs and I cannot get anything to work as it has for the past 4 years. So her is an un-edited Greensleeves played on the 26 string harp I designed and just finished building. the sound is not as good as with the video camera since it was taken with just a 5MB still camera in video mode.
> 
> ...


Donna, it sounds great. Beautiful tone to it.


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Music!*
> 
> OK- I have given up the plan to get a good professional-looking video and I'm going to just put up something that shows how the new harp plays. We have had unbelievable problems with our computer programs and I cannot get anything to work as it has for the past 4 years. So her is an un-edited Greensleeves played on the 26 string harp I designed and just finished building. the sound is not as good as with the video camera since it was taken with just a 5MB still camera in video mode.
> 
> ...


ooh Donna!! This is so beautiful. The sound is hypnotizing - just so heavenly and to listen to it played, having followed its creation, knowing all that went into it, well, it brings tears to my eyes. 
Thank you so much for sharing its journey with us!


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Music!*
> 
> OK- I have given up the plan to get a good professional-looking video and I'm going to just put up something that shows how the new harp plays. We have had unbelievable problems with our computer programs and I cannot get anything to work as it has for the past 4 years. So her is an un-edited Greensleeves played on the 26 string harp I designed and just finished building. the sound is not as good as with the video camera since it was taken with just a 5MB still camera in video mode.
> 
> ...


Thank you to Ms DebbieP and the other Lumberjocks with such encouraging comments. Fact is that I'm kinda impressed that I can play the harp at all. I sing way off tune and cannot even whistle on key, but for some reason the harp 'sings to me' and I can do it- albeit after a kazillion hours of practice. I should be better- but I'm happy with what I've can do, and I'm enjoying the journey.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Music!*
> 
> OK- I have given up the plan to get a good professional-looking video and I'm going to just put up something that shows how the new harp plays. We have had unbelievable problems with our computer programs and I cannot get anything to work as it has for the past 4 years. So her is an un-edited Greensleeves played on the 26 string harp I designed and just finished building. the sound is not as good as with the video camera since it was taken with just a 5MB still camera in video mode.
> 
> ...


just beautiful Donna. All aspects of it. just beautiful


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## JJohnston (May 22, 2009)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Music!*
> 
> OK- I have given up the plan to get a good professional-looking video and I'm going to just put up something that shows how the new harp plays. We have had unbelievable problems with our computer programs and I cannot get anything to work as it has for the past 4 years. So her is an un-edited Greensleeves played on the 26 string harp I designed and just finished building. the sound is not as good as with the video camera since it was taken with just a 5MB still camera in video mode.
> 
> ...


I don't know how I missed this - I'd been following the blog and waiting for the video. Some people can make instruments, and some people can play them, but few can do both.


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## DonnaMenke (Sep 20, 2006)

DonnaMenke said:


> *Music!*
> 
> OK- I have given up the plan to get a good professional-looking video and I'm going to just put up something that shows how the new harp plays. We have had unbelievable problems with our computer programs and I cannot get anything to work as it has for the past 4 years. So her is an un-edited Greensleeves played on the 26 string harp I designed and just finished building. the sound is not as good as with the video camera since it was taken with just a 5MB still camera in video mode.
> 
> ...


Thanks to everyone for your wonderful encouragement. 
Tim- in rereading your question I realize that you meant to ask how long it took to make the BOOK, not the box. 
I started with the concept in 2000 after L. K. Ventura's book came out. I was looking forward to learning a lot from her book, and I was disappointed that she covered just one type of box and finish. By 2001 I had a couple of projects, Yin Yang Box, and Nested Boxes (Earth Boxes in the book) that I felt could make good projects. Nested boxes was not an original idea, but it is such a good plan, and then I expanded on it in other Projects. (I used a lot of Tom Crabb's ideas too- with his blessing- what a great guy.)
2002 I had the contract in hand- 2004 they had my manuscript- 2006 the book came out- 2007 it was available- reprint in 2009- 2010 went out of print- 2011 rights reverted to the author (me)-* 2012 electronic copies made available.*
I just finished scanning and saving as PDFs all the projects in the book and made them available for online purchase for $3 each. There are other combinations available too. Please take a look on my web site- just search for my name- and take a look to see if everything looks OK. I still need to double-check all the links, but it is usable now
Thanks for your continuing interest, Lumberjocks.


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