Harp neck brasswork complete!

Well here it is. The straps are riveted on with brass rod peened over.

Here's a closer look.

And the back side.

Brass work (still)

The electro etch worked pretty well, although I think I killed the battery charger. I etched about .090" into the 1/8" thick brass. There was still some sawing and a fair bit of filing to clean up the straps.

These are simplified versions of the straps on the original. Those were cast.

The strap on the left has been polished and worked into the curve of the wood. The one on the right is cut to shape and drilled but still flat. There will be wood filler pieces under these where they sit on the pillar to ease the sharp transition from the neck.

More Harp Progress

I haven't posted any photos because I have been working on the finish and it's a lot like watching paint dry. Not a lot of interest. But things are moving along.

The brass cheekbands are set into the neck and fastened. These are for reinforcement, not for holding the tuning pins. On the last harp I made with brass cheekbands the steel pins galled on the brass and couldn't be turned. I had to redrill the brass for clearance on the finished harp - not something I want to repeat!

One more thing for this assembly

Here is my electro etching setup.  The battery charger is connected to the piece I am etching(+) and another piece of brass which is getting copper plated. The zinc seems to stay in the solution.

What I'm doing here is using the process to cut the reinforcing straps. Once they are done this process I'll remove the mask, give the a coat of beeswax and electro-engrave a bit of fancy work.

Moe next time!