Search:

I thought so. There's just too much going on and it looks like a bit of work. Thanks!

Irish harp had a great fall and neck pillar joint came adrift. Previously joined with five dowels and titebond II. It had over the years separated a bit (the strings pull down on one side at around...

Thanks for your insights. I am back to the original holes already. However I want to plug them and drill new holes that are straighter to avoid any potential gaps.
What are you recommending as...

Thanks Chris. It's a good option. The drill bit doesn't bite the sides? It's what I did first time around but the holes still weren't 100%. Probably my lack of skills there.

Need advice on dowel jigs. I'm hoping to pay under $100 because I don't have a lot of use for dowels, but also to avoid disappointing rubbish.
I have to repair a harp I built 25 years ago - after a...

Had to order in tempered masonite at my hardware store. On pickup today it looked like ordinary masonite.
"Does this look like tempered masonite to you?"
The guy looked at it and said he thought...

Yes, but the available boards are smaller than I use. And you do pay a premium!

It's purely for conservation reasons. Paintings that last are all about chemistry and movement and moisture and UV...

What a great idea. I have previously used ordinary masonite and tried to seal the back. There's so much extra surface area and it's like a sponge.

I checked his site - he doesn't seem to use the S2S masonite - the pictures show it has a rough side.

Does anyone know where I can get this in Australia?

S2S = smooth both sides. Tempered = treated for moisture resistance.

I can get 4.8mm tempered masonite but only smooth on one side. I want...

Thanks for the tips.

The extra width on the jaws was not a new idea, of course - it was whether I could reinforce it to stop it bending. Most of our ideas have been already thought of and done...

We don't all have 000s to spend on everything, right? So I'm always looking for home-baked solutions.

I have a cheapish vice on my bench not too big, but I've recently installed extended piece of...

In all my harps the primary glue is titebond (yellow PVA, crosslinked PVA). It's wonderful stuff for repairs as you can use heat.
That includes -
* joining soundboard pieces (even though I go...

I've made three - two 34 string irish harps, and a smaller one. At the time internet wasn't really around to help, so learnt a lot from two great Australian harp makers, both with different...

Years back someone borrowed my (hand-built) bass, wore a belt buckle and damaged the finish on the back. :~ He felt bad. So did I actually.

It was originally sprayed with clear two pack estapol....

Any tips with applying these sheets? I understand you use some paper in-between the iron and timber.

I've heard rumours of difficulties/failures. In the past I used clean veneer and some titebond,...

Building a harp and using epoxy for the first time (west systems) on certain joints. I did not use any thickening agent as the joint is quite flush.

In gluing the body together I had a joint...

Ok, had a good look at the bit - realise my son has been using it lately. It's quite blunt. Where do I go to get it sharpened? What does it cost? I'm not really game to sharpen something that has so...

Of course my first lesson is that I should have routed the individual pieces against my template before gluing (because I can turn them upside down), and then could have used hidden pins to align the...

I am building a harp with three laminations on the curved pillar and neck (11mmpurpleheart, 15mm tas oak, 11mm purpleheart).

The centre piece is routed to shape, and I've now glued on the outer...

Thanks for that. Now I'll just need to hunt around for someone down here near the mornington peninsula who can dress & bandsaw it for me.

Is it possible to bandsaw a 30mm thick purpleheart plank (rough sawn 1200x270mm) into two? It's for use on a small harp.

I don't own a bandsaw so don't know what is possible, how straight they...

Hi. Just bought a triton saw to go with my second hand workcentre, and realise i don't have saw alignment cams.

Know where i can get them?

I'm half tempted to make something out of wood to do...

Hi.

Trying to decide whether to buy this shed for $5800 or build myself.
Kyneton deluxe cedar
3.8w x 4.8d x 2.7h (that's about the size of the space available. Extra height wouldn't go...

Brilliant. Thanks for that. It came assembled, but i don't think the guy used it that much.

Hi. Recently picked up a workcentre 2000 & am setting it up. My saw is the smallest size, and when i try to set it up for crosscut mode, i can't fit the table top inside. I tried loosing the 4 nuts...

I bought one of these things years ago when i couldn't afford a block plane (man was i
broke!)

It's such a versatile tool. I used it for harp making and so many other projects. I also ran out...

Hi. Have an old tassie oak floor, but 4.5 inch width is 112mm and that ain't available.

I only have a little section where i pulled the fireplace out, and just need a few short pieces to fill...

Hi.

Hope i can describe this....

I've built a couple of irish-style harps, which means that the pillar continues the flow of the neck. But on one of them, (with more than a tonne of pressure...

Hi.

If your harp is sounding more like a ukele, i'm wondering about your string tension. Harps don't really release the harmonics - which is what gives them that sweetness - until you reach...

Hi.

I have a beautiful twisted piece of melaleuca. I want to turn it into a mantelpiece with the natural shape of the timber, but with all the bark stripped back. But the bark is very stubborn....