How to Make a Handmade Harp
A harp can be made at home using either readily available household supplies or blueprints, strings or lumber materials purchased from a woodworker shop. Harps can be made in a variety of shapes, amount of strings and sizes, so you should have an outline before starting the project.
Things You'll Need
- Base (Bucket, wood, bowl, sturdy box or lidless plastic container)
- Strings (Wire, dental floss or rubber bands)
- Woodworking tools (optional)
- Paint (optional)
- Varnish (optional)
- Blueprint (optional)
- Tuner screws (optional)
Instructions
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Choose the type of harp you want to make. This should be based on your budget and the type of sound that you want to make. For instance, a Celtic harp makes a light "tinkle" sound and a folk harp makes a deep, rich sound. Various harp recordings can be found online, allowing you to choose the harp that resonates the most with you.
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Purchase blueprints (for a more elaborate harp) and building materials either online or from a woodworking shop. If you're using wood for the harp, choose one that's medium-hard, like walnut or cherry. Soft woods may not be able to handle the string tension and hard woods won't allow the string sound to fully resonate. There are also harp-building kits available that can be useful since they provide all of the materials needed to complete the project.
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Varnish or paint the base of the harp, if you desire. Allow the base to dry according to the manufacturer's instructions.
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Make the cuts necessary for the strings for the harp. Carefully drill into the base or wrap the strings around tuners screwed into the base. A blueprint could especially come in handy in this step to guide you in string placement. The harp can be tuned by turning tuner screws (if you used them) or tying the strings at different lengths. Do the tuning slowly and carefully over a period of several days to avoid snapping the strings.
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References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
