Next, unscrew the
jig from the bench and release the temporary battens from the jig,
handling the soundboard with care. Turn the jig over and underneath
there will be a recess where the under string bar will fit snugly
while you remove excess glue, and glasspaper the upper side of the
soundboard.
Do this with great
care. A good tip is to wet the surface with a damp cloth after you
have used the finest grade of glasspaper, as the water causes the
wood fibres to swell, and when the wood is dry again continue the
glasspapering until the surface is beautifully smooth. Before you
glue the upper string bar it must receive its Formica facing, and
all the holes for the strings must be drilled; the Formica
strip is glued to the upper string bar with contact adhesive.
It
is difficult to mark the positions of the holes on the Formica and
the best way to go about it is to apply a strip of white masking tape
over the Formica and make the pencil marks on it.
Having
done so, put it aside because it is at this stage that you must decide
what type of harp you are going to make - whether it will be Celtic,
Minstrel, Paraguayan or Bardic.
