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Well, I am finally going at it now. Bent the top side and am bending the underside of the harp neck now. As soon as it is done, I will bend the bottom of the body side. My pics show an unusual configuration for the fox bender.

Mike

Mike,

That's certainly an impressive piece of kit - when not in use it can double as a Modern Art Installation! The sides are looking good!! Keep the pictures coming.

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

I should point out that setup was to bend the inside part of the harp neck. Since I am using lightbulbs, I wrapped all the openings with foil to keep the heat in, and turned it on its end so the heat would rise. Worked great!

Also got the other body side bent. Now, a little heat pipe shaping and they will be finished.

Mike

Quite a good invention for the odd process of bending the harp arm, i must say! once you get the waste bent you can turn it on its end and go on with the arm. it does both the inner and outer side, with a bit of heat baffling it looks like... a very good idea indeed. did you make the entire machine or is it a modified fox bender?

_________________
TONEDEVIL GUITARS
REX JAMES STUDIOS
WWW.THETONEDEVIL.COM
WWW.REXJAMES.COM

It is a standard Fox Bender. The lighting and shadows hide the edges. The bending template is inserted into the the bender in the normal way. The extra length of the harp template just makes it look a bit odd. I already bent the top piece (shown in the picture). As of now, all of the three sides are bent.

Mike

Anybody got an electronic (downsized) version of the GAL harp plan? I need to send a pic to the neck builder.

Mike

I ordered my neck from Hanelie-Moon. Looking forward to seeing it! Nice folks over there.

I have a question about the back of this harp. It has to be done in three pieces. I plan on using some nice back binding for the center, but what about the extra piece to make the harp neck wide enough? What would you do? Right now, I am simply planning on joining the edges together, no binding strip.

Mike

Well, my harp guitar neck arrived from Hanalei-Moon, absolutely perfect. Tonight, I finished my extra large Spanish top and bottom clamping system. Right now, the top is in the device. That is one cool way to glue thin boards together! The standard device has three wedges, mine has 5 (and possibly 6, but I did not need it for the top).

We'll see how it comes out in the morning. All I can say is if you have not tried this system, re-consider it.

Mike

any new pix of the jig and process?

_________________
TONEDEVIL GUITARS
REX JAMES STUDIOS
WWW.THETONEDEVIL.COM
WWW.REXJAMES.COM

Rex,

No, a bit OBE here. Heading to the beach for the kid's Fall break. But when I get back I will post new photos.

Mike