Veneer for harp soundbox.

[tom42cook]

Nice drum. Where do you hit it?

[szczepan4069]

apologies for being offline for far too long. i have now sourced some sitka spruce for the soundboard....(as well as for the wing spars of the biplane i am also building)....
the sitka was from a furniture maker on the gold coast....he had sourced it specifically for aircraft spar quality.............but i bought enough to construct a solid sound board. the quater sawn pieces were perfect for both applications... i also spent a fair amount of time studying up on the various aspects of building a harp. a few questions i have .......i suppose i can have all these questions answered if i cave in and buy a set of plans off one of the internet sites....i would prefer to solve these questions through forum discussion (if there is enthusiasm out there)?...
questions....here we go;

1-harmonic curve. i understand that there is a harmonic curve (or a range within which) the different string types need to fall. is this length from face of holes on the soundboard to the lower most point on each pin on the neck?
2-preferred timber combinations for solid/laminated necks (not meaning plywood)....and timber options for soundbox??
...thats a start....

regards to all

[tom42cook]

1-harmonic curve. i understand that there is a harmonic curve (or a range within which) the different string types need to fall. is this length from face of holes on the soundboard to the lower most point on each pin on the neck?
2-preferred timber combinations for solid/laminated necks (not meaning plywood)....and timber options for soundbox??
...thats a start....

Good to hear you're still at it.
If I can suggest (with out offending members here) you might want to ask these things on specialist harp makers forum. I think I listed one early in the thread. While there is a wide range of skill and knowledge on this forum, what you are actually after is pretty specific to harps.
On the other hand I've started to draw plans for my next harp if you are interested. It will be 34 or maybe 36 str concert tension for gut and nylon.
I was toying with the idea of learning sketchup to do it but the first few attempts have sent me running back to draftsight which I find much easier. I can't even work out how you might print plans from sketchup.
Any way if you like watching paint dry and grass grow etc. then maybe the wait won't worry you.
Tom

[szczepan4069]

Tom,
thanks for the reply.....
I have contacted the Harp Association of Queensland and i will be getting to look over a few harps up close,......yay!!!!!...and i've also been given the name of a gentleman that makes harps and will likley contact him towards the end of this week. once i get that concluded - i'll be armed with a bit more knowledge to start selecting timbers and getting the design to timber.

[szczepan4069]

tom....i'd love to see your design for the next harp.....

[tom42cook]

Thats really good news.
There's alot lot to learn when you get your hands on one.
Look inside for bracing - underneath for pillar to body joint, see if it is bolted etc.
Then when you've done that you should have a big bucket full of answers.
T

[szczepan4069]

catching up with a harp maker next monday. i went and saw 4 different harps yesterday. two of them made by the gentlema i'll be seeing on monday. will report back once i have this meeting......hopefully wont need to ask any more painful questions here in thi thread...and just get straight to the design and building phases....

[tom42cook]

Would you care to name names? Maybe pm me if your unsure whether he wants to be named publicly. It would have been a great help when I was starting down that road to be able ask face to face. The only builder I was able to meet took great pleasure in showing me his many instruments but his only advice was "don't build harps"....not much help really.
T

[szczepan4069]

Check your pm tom...

[tom42cook]

Check your pm tom...

Now I'm really jealous. I don't think I'll have any thing useful to to add to the project after you've talked to him.
T

[szczepan4069]

no fear of that......it will of course be of great reassurance to have such a knowledge base close at hand...however, ultimately i will still be building the harp myself....and sharing that process here online...mate, your and others input will make the journey so much richer...

[szczepan4069]

recently popped in to see how a harp maker goes about building harps....managed to get some good photos of the construction sequencing, timbers, veneers etc ...also bought some 1.5mm hoop pine veneers from Austral plywood.....this is the actual veneer material used in their plywoods.....

tom..can send you some pics if your interested....

cheers

[tom42cook]

tom..can send you some pics if your interested....

cheers

Absolutely I'm interested. How do you plan to use the 1.5 hoop? will you be forming a round back with it?
T

[szczepan4069]

i'll be building a base form over which i will lay the 1.5mm veneers and laminating these together. I saw a really good technique (which does not use vaccum pressure) to put an even force down on the veneers as they are glued............doug gave me a few off-cuts from each end of a harp he is currently building. it gives me a perfect cross section to establish the number of veneers, the overall shape/radiuses at each end......so...yep a fully curved/laminated sound box.....i'll be building the soundboard either from Sitka spruce or from King Billy Pine (probably celery top pine) if i can get it. first preference is Sitka.....but i want to save that for my biplane....if i can..
...........other interesting snippets coming...