8th July 2016
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’70’s OS 21 Chord Appalachian |
My OS 21 Appalachian Autoharp came with a battered case probably from Oscar Schmidt over 30 years ago . Made from cardboard with simulated black leather finish it was showing serious wear and tear 🙁 .
Being a woody guy I decided to make a new one and asked around the harpin’ community for anyone with plans or drawing of one , finding none I committed to making one from scratch .
The materials I have on hand are Full 2″ x 4″ clear yellow cedar and 1/8″ baltic birch plywood .
First I drew on corigated box cardboard an outline of the Autoharp body and added 1″ all round for padding room to create a template .
The idea was to maintain the 2″ thickness at the joints for strength and sculpt away the rest to 1/2″ wall thickness using my bandsaw .
The five legs join at inconvenient angles, I used a digital protractor to transfer these to the table saw to accurately cut the joint faces.
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Case Frame Assembled |
The joints were secured temporarily with finishing screws, these will be replaced with dowels in the final assembly stage .
The 1/8″ plywood panels will set in a 1/4 wide x 1/8″ deep rebate set in from the inner faces. The enclosed box will then be cut in two approx 1 1/4 ” down from the top face . Hinges and latches added and carrying handle .
The inside will be fabric lined and blocks of foam cut support the harp securely inside .
More to follow when finished 🙂