I'm proud to say that I've sanded even more and am nearing the end of the sanding process. I need to now switch up to a 320 grit paper, sand it all again, and then do an interesting process. My mentor suggested that I should coat a small cotton piece of fabric with a very small amount of water, barely damp. I should then gently rub it across the surface of the wood and let it sit for a bit. I then should sand off the slightly risen grain. That will help my varnish go on much smoother. I'm pretty excited. I can see the end in sight!
Or, at least the end of the harp's construction. After it is built, fully assembled and everything, I have to sew myself a case for it. That means I have to learn how to sew, and I have no idea how to do that. This will be a fun experience.
And for the few that read this, here's a picture of the harp so far.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
A Huge Load of Nothing Special
With the soundbox, harmonic curve and neck, and the feet all ready to sand, I went out to buy myself two new types of sand paper: 150 and 180-bit grit. These will be used one at a time over the entire piece of wood before I move onto the next kind. I will know when to move to a higher value when I see small marks caused by the sand paper to form on the wood.
For the last month and a half, I have been sanding and sanding the harp. I have completed two walnut feet (which were a bit of a pain, due to all of the curves), the body (which was pretty strait foreword), and the combined harmonic curve (a super pain, because of a lot of curves and cuts) and the pillar (very easy). I started on the feet with 150-grit to remove any marks already in the wood due to the cut from the original block. After I started to make my own marks, I used the 180 to buff out those marks and smooth even more. Finally, I used a 220 to make it the smoothest it has ever been. I repeated those steps with all three wood groups.
My hands hurt, and at times I felt like I breathed in more dust than air, but it is worth it. The harps feels so much better now.
Total time? Over a dozen hours of sanding off and on.
For the last month and a half, I have been sanding and sanding the harp. I have completed two walnut feet (which were a bit of a pain, due to all of the curves), the body (which was pretty strait foreword), and the combined harmonic curve (a super pain, because of a lot of curves and cuts) and the pillar (very easy). I started on the feet with 150-grit to remove any marks already in the wood due to the cut from the original block. After I started to make my own marks, I used the 180 to buff out those marks and smooth even more. Finally, I used a 220 to make it the smoothest it has ever been. I repeated those steps with all three wood groups.
My hands hurt, and at times I felt like I breathed in more dust than air, but it is worth it. The harps feels so much better now.
Total time? Over a dozen hours of sanding off and on.
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