Chapter 1

An Introduction

(And Explanation)

This first installment will deal primarily with an explanation of what we're trying to do here, and why. I am going to try and be brief, and very basic on the details. I invite anyone who has specific questions to please e-mail them to me, and I will try to answer them as they come in. If you do send inquiries, please include your name and location so I can properly credit you for your questions. From past experience, I know that this harp will take about 3 months to complete. (Little did I realize when I wrote this that "Technical Difficulties" would slow down the progress considerably.) I will be updating this site frequently as I set-up and complete various operations in the construction of this harp.

What we're going to do here is build a 22 String (3 Octave) Celtic Harp. It will be made of Maple, with a Sitka Spruce Ply soundboard. The harp will have a full set of brass sharping levers from Robinson's Harp Shop in Mount Laguna, CA., and a Nylon string set, also from Robinson's. Why are we doing this? Just crazy I guess. Over the years I've had many inquiries from people looking for a book on how to build a harp. I've never been able to locate a book like that. I recently spent 3 1/2 years working in a retail book store, and with all of the resources available to me there, I couldn't find anything even close. More than a few people have asked me "Why don't YOU write one?" Well, I guess in a way, that's what this is going to be.

This harp is going to be designed around a set of strings and levers I purchased some time ago. I had designed a small harp, ordered the string set and hardware, and then decided that I wasn't pleased with the look of the original design. I am now altering that original design, while keeping the critical dimensions that relate to string length and range. I am including a small sketch of the full size plan that I am working on, and you can click Sketch of Harp Plan to have a look at it, (your browsers "BACK" button will return you here.) The harp will stand approx. 3 feet tall, and will be about 2 feet from front to back. The soundbox, or the "body" of the harp will be in the "stave-back" style. This indicates that the back of the harp, or the part that will rest against the players shoulder, is going to have angled sides rather than a squared off, box configuration. The detail on the right side of the sketch shows what I mean.  The harp will also be decorated with Pyrography.  Because it is in the Celtic style, I feel that Celtic designs would be most appropriate to decorate the harp.

I know that a lot of you out there reading this are fellow woodworkers, and this segment will be directed primarily at you. When you set out to design a harp, it's like stepping off of a very high platform, onto a high wire. It's a tightrope. You have to balance strength of construction with resonance. You could build a harp with 2X4's and 1/2" CDX plywood, but I hate to imagine what it would sound like. On the other extreme, you can spend weeks crafting a beautiful piece of artwork out of finely polished hardwoods, only to see it reduced to splinters when you try and bring the strings up to tune. Imagine you're building a 22 string harp. Let's say, just for example, that the middle string on that harp is going to need about 50 lbs. of tension before it starts to reach it's desired range. Using that value as an average, you can calculate that the harp is going to have about 1100 lbs. of stress trying to pull it in on itself when you get all of the strings tuned. You can begin to see the problem.

Okay, enough of the text. It's time to start getting this harp going. My next step is to calculate how many board feet of Maple this is going to take. I also need to get a digital camera so I can start uploading photos for you as I get started. I'll also see if I can come up with a more attractive, and easier to access format on these pages for your convenience. Check back with me soon.

Return to Project Front Page