Marching on...

I have been cogitating on a way to minimize the risk of splitting the soundboard on this harp. It is so wide (about 20") that I'm concerned that running the base with the grain 90° to the soundboard will not move with the seasons.
A carved box would have the grain in line but has little strength.
In addition the lower edge of the soundboard is in tension - not a good situation for the glue line.

The solution I have elected is a blind dovetail joint.

It's a little challenging to make this joint but if I can pull it off it will be elegant.

Here the right half of the bottom is lying on the right side of the soundboard (I 'm not dyslexic - we're looking at the inside of the harp in these images.

The tricky thing about this joint is that you can't see anything when it's together, and it's difficult to see anything whilst cutting it.

Not too bad. This is the view from the inside. Note that the grain is running in line with the soundboard. The dovetail joint should keep the soundboard from lifting off the base.

Here's the view from the outside.

I'm doing the base in halves because there is a foot extension that comes through the middle - basically a 2x4 - which will have the mortise for the foot of the pillar and also provide support to help hold the harp in playing position.