Harps, Harps, Harps

[BowEd]

Attention to wood grain counts.Beautiful.Plenty of steps involved I see too.Who tunes the harps?Your wife?

[Marc St Louis]

I do the preliminary tuning till it gets close to pitch then she takes over

[Marc St Louis]

Here are a couple more pics as an update

This first picture shows the Harp with half the strings installed



This picture shows the Harp fully strung but not tuned yet.  Still a couple more things to do before she can be called finished

[Badger]

  Fascinating hobby you have there Mark. If I find time I would like to attempt one myself for the grand kids.

[Badger]

Do the strings over time bend the wood in from the constant pressure. Seems like it might take a few tunings before the stretching stopped

[DC]

You want to know if his harp takes any set? 

[sonny]

You want to know if his harp takes any set? 

 
if so, he can always start sinew backing them

[Marc St Louis]

The arm, that part that has the pins, does not more or shift.  The pillar, the long relatively straight piece that runs down to the bottom of the soundboard, does develop a slight sideways bend over time.  The soundboard on the other hand develops a belly and it's only when that happens that the sound actually stats to have a richer, fuller sound.

I use Spruce for the soundboards, actually started cutting my own Red Spruce last year from out property, but most commercial Harp builders use aircraft Birch plywood.  We find that the plywood soundboards, though quite strong, dampen the sound

[BowEd]

Well it's better listening to a nice toned harp around the house then kids running around with whistles etc.Just joking.Seems the older I get the more I appreciate silence....lol.
Kind of a pleasant sirene sound out of those harps right?