The Making of a Lyre Harp
- Sparkling Diamond
- May 4
- 8 min read
** If you would rather watch the video version you can find it here.
A number of years ago I had bought myself a harp guitar. At the time my employers who were like spiritual parents to me wanted to start a church and I wanted to be a part of it and help however I could. But it all turned bad and they "chewed me up and spit me out" and I later had to sell it because I needed money. If you want to read more about it you can find some more of the story here
(there's more details scattered in other posts).
Several months ago I was regretting I sold it and wished I still had but it cost me $1200+ at the time and was probably even more expensive now and there was just no way I could get myself one currently. If you don't know what a harp guitar looks like here is a screenshot and link for the one I bought.
I could have gotten myself a run of the mill instrument for cheap but I wanted something unique and not just seen everywhere so I did some searching to try to figure out what I really might like and then sketched an idea of what I'd like to make, thinking that when the time is right I will buy wood and make my own. I did some research to see if I could figure out the best kind of wood to use that is sturdy enough but not too hard because I don't have all the right tools to make it easy. One person said they use fruit tree wood, others said they use poplar or oak wood. My dad has a wood working shop when I was growing up and since I had no brothers old enough to help I had to help my dad make furniture so I was familiar with these woods. I took sometime to listen to my intuition/gut to see what wood I felt drawn to and it didn't take long to figure out that I would like to use cherry wood. I found some companies on eBay that sold cherry wood and bookmarked the ones I thought I'd like to buy. Then I stuck it away for when the time was right.
One day I was working on another project when I thought about it again so I looked up the wood I had bookmarked several months ago and tried to decide how much I would need. It wasn't too expensive and without much hesitation I decided to buy the wood. It felt like somehow the time was right even though I expected at some point to regret it. I bought a set of 4 turning blanks here and 2-1/8" thick×18" long×8" wide sheets here. And then I dug out my sketch...when I first sketched it I was thinking of getting a slab of wood and then hollowing out the center to add depth to the music but I realized that I don't have the proper equipment to do it well like the videos I saw on YouTube.
After the wood came and I was ready to start on it I laid out on the floor to mark out the curves for the side pieces. First I cut one shorter than the other one so it will have a slant to it.
Then I had to figure out the curves. I didn't have anything that worked to make it easy so I ended up using my tape measure and a ruler. The goal was to give it curvature like my sketch without compromising the strength of the wood by making the curves too deep so the tension of the strings doesn't break the wood when I tighten them.
For the ball at the tops I used a paint container to try to get it as close to perfect as I could.
Then it was time to start sawing...
It went quite slow because my saw was small and not really made for so much sawing so I made it into smaller bites by cutting spaces to make it easier than if I was cutting it off in one chunk.
It took me two days to saw out the curves and then it was time to round and sand the edges. I didn't have a router so I went to work with my knife, sandpaper, and my little rotary sander bit.
I like curls...
And some beauty from the trash pile...
It was a bit hard to get all the saw marks out but I finally called it good enough...
Then it was time to work out the joints. I decided tongue and groove might be the best so I measured and marked...
And back to sawing...
I had to drill a hole so I could turn my saw to cut out the piece.
It was really exciting and rewarding at this point because it was starting to look like it was actually becoming something more than pieces of wood.
Next I used the remaining pieces of wood for the sound box... I wanted to cut a hole in the middle of the frant piece so I had to find the middle.
I used a heart stencil for a heart shaped hole because, well, I like hearts...
Thankfully my saw blade was removable so I was able to cut out the center but the wood was so thin that I did manage to crack it a bit...
Next thing was to cut it to size both front and back...
Next I had to figure out to get the middle brace to stay where I wanted it to...
I used small screws on the inside just to keep it from slipping down when I glued as I didn't have the resources to screw in from the outside...
I would have to figure out later how to fill the gap after I glued it. Now I had to fasten the joints on the main frame so it doesn't fall apart. First I drilled a hole as deep as I could with my little drill bit and fished around in my toolbox for the longest screws I could find...
Only casualty was that one screw head broke off but thankfully it was in far enough to hold it together. Then it was time to glue it together!
I only had two clamps and no way to get to the store because I have no vehicle anymore so I had to make do.
I used a board on the bottom to help keep the weight as even as possible across the surface. The heaviest thing of was my crock and on top of that I added nearly another 2 feet of my heaviest books off my bookshelf hoping it will look okay when it's done. I let it sit for about 2 days to make sure the glue is dried well. Then it was time for more sanding...I used 60/80 grit sandpaper to sand all the rough edges after shaving off the edges with my knife to cut down on sanding time.
Then I went over everything with 220 grit sandpaper to get out the grooves of the rough sandpaper. Everything seemed to be nicely glued except for one back corner but I had no way of regluing it so I decided to just fill the tiny crack with putty. I ordered some cherry putty on eBay that would have been cheaper than buying at the store but never received it so I ended up buying some regular putty at Walmart.
It was a bit hard to get it out of the tube but I did manage. The only bad part about it was that it wasn't cherry colored to match the wood and I no longer had any dust to mix into it to help the color. I used a little piece of scrap wood to fill the hole in the middle brace and then filled the holes and cracks with putty.
Next I did some searching for some healing and prosperity symbols to woodburn on the front. I used some stencils and freehand to draw other decorative designs and finally found use for the Dollar General woodburning kit I had gotten several years ago. I left room on the bottom for the wires and bridge.
Next I had to figure out how to place the wires. After a bit of measuring and marking I think I got them mostly evenly spaced and in the middle...
When I was ready to start making holes for the tuning pins I realized that my drill bit wasn't quite big enough. I thought I might have to see if the neighbor has one he is willing to lend me but I tried first to wiggle the drill bit around to make it bigger and it did work. I did find a video on YouTube that explained how to make the holes tighter if it's too loose. The first time around I didn't make the holes deep enough so I had to go back and make them as deep as my drill bit reaches and hope it works and I think it did.
For the bottom I was planning to drill holes through the entire 2.25" when I realized that there was no way my drill bit was long enough and at best guess I might have trouble getting the holes lined up if I tried drilling holes from both sides. It was at this time when I unfurled the lyre strings I had bought to realize that they were too small. After a bit of research and digging I found what size of wire I needed on eBay from what sizes one person recommended for his homemade instrument he had for sale and from looking at various homemade instruments I decided that screws it will be and I went to search through my screw assortment to see if I could find enough small ones. They weren't all the same size but it was close enough to get me started in the direction I wanted to go.
At this point the putty had still not come and I got impatient and decided to try to put the strings on because I really wanted to make music and feel the vibrations against my body. I broke a few strings and realized that when I put them on for real I have to figure out how to fasten them better to the screws so they don't just slip off when the tension gets stronger.
The bridge is a piece of dowel with grooves cut in for the wires.
When I finally was able to get to the store I got some regular putty as I mentioned above and could finish it I took the wires off again so I could varnish it.
My set up...
I love the beauty of natural wood.
Ready for the tuning pins and screws...
One string at a time...
And it's done!👏 Click the video below if you want to hear the sound it makes...
Here is a close up pic of the crack...
Thanks for taking an interest in my project. My dream has been to create healing music for others which hasn't happened yet but it definitely has helped me be able to cry and release emotions that nothing else seemed to help. And even if I never get to the point of creating healing music for others, I know it will at least help me heal. But we'll see what happens...
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