I splurged at Lowe's and bought a piece of plexiglass to make myself a nice template for my 29 string harp design. I did not make a template the first time I built one because I wasn't sure the design would work. Now I know the design works, and this time I was able to take into account some details I overlooked the first time, like the fact that the pins and pegs have width! Maybe it was my physics training- we used to always use massless strings and frictionless surfaces. Why not two dimensional pins?
You can't see it in the picture, but I've got a hole drilled in this template to mark the precise location of each pin, each peg, and each hole in the string rib. That's eighty seven little holes!
In other news, more wildflowers are coming up in our yard. This little beauty is known as a desert bell.
4 comments:
May each of your eighty-seven holes prove to be in exactly the right place!
(Excuse the note of doubt here, but although I'm a jeweller I find this sort of precision difficult to achieve. I'm sure they are perfect!)
The nice thing is that the holes don't have to be EXACTLY in the right place. If the strings are a little too short or too long, I just adjust the tension by using the tuning pegs. The important thing is to make sure the strings end up looking parallel and evenly spaced. It is true that the more accurate the string length is, the nicer voice the harp will have. Strings that are too loose sound dull and flabby, and strings that are too tight can break themselves or break the soundboard!
Beautiful Flowers. I need to come see them sometime.
You've got SKILLS!
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