As my husband has entered the final stages of finishing my harp (polishing with 0000 steel wool), a possible problem has come to light with one part of the soundboard, where it joins the soundbox. If you look closely at the photos linked below, you’ll see that there’s an area where the wood of the soundboard (along the side) is noticeably rougher and a very different color than the area around it. What you probably can’t see is that it’s minisculy “inside” the edge of the soundbox, rather than flush with it. It looks a little like it might have been gouged during the initial rough sanding:
The soundboard is spruce, with a paper-thin veneer of birch. The body of the harp is cherry.
Our two big questions are: Is this only an aesthetic problem (and if so, is there a way to minimize it)? or is this likely to present a structural problem (and, if so, is there a way to fix it)?
That’s fairly wide at 7/8"- you might find narrower. You cut it to length and iron it on. Works quite well.
Alternatively, you might find a wood filler putty that is a decent color match.
That harp is shaping up nicely!
I don’t think you have a structural problem as long as the amount the sound board is set back is small.
I think what happened is that when the sound board was glued onto the body it wasn’t flush along that edge and also some of the glue used got onto the edge of the board. That accounts for both the roughness and change in color; rough because flat sanding the side didn’t catch the edge of the soundboard, and the glue keeps the finish form sinking into the wood.
You can solve it by rounding over the face edge of the sound board onto the side. Those edges should have a good size radius anyway for comfort in playing. You may have to taper the side ever so slightly, thinning it just a hair towards towards the sound board, but I think rounding over alone will do the trick. Because you are working with wood that is going three different directions, make several shallow passes with a router and a round over bit rather than slogging it out in one pass. Or use a long board with sandpaper attached and do it by hand. I would suggest rounding over all four of the vertical edges
BTW, I don’t participate here anymore at C&F and only knew about this because Missy gave me a heads up. So if you have any questions drop me an email or catch me over at everythingdulcimer.com
Tell your hubby he is doing nice…looks good so far