First project worth showing

[waveman2010]

Hi, Here are my first efforts in woodworking worth showing. A little trio of pentatonic lyres. having persuaded my family of women that man really does need a workshop to hide in I had to produce something. I made them from maple which I had read was relatively easy to work. The third one was better than the first two. I finished them with boiled linseed, does anyone have any better suggestions?

 

[Fromey]

They look gorgeous. I wonder how they sound? At the moment I'm quite enamoured with Osmo Top Oil. It gives a very durable and silky smooth finish. I imagine perfect for a hand-held instrument such as these. How much are you selling them for?

 

[waveman2010]

Oh sell them, never thought of that, gave them to a local kindergarten. Pentatonic instruments are great for kids because every note harmonises. They sound OK, a little thin and light in the higher harmonics but not too noisy which I guess could be a good thing.

 

[Fromey]

I have two daughters aged 3.5 and 5.5 who would most likely love them. If you've sent them to a kindergarten, they must be fairly robust, so they might survive my two ratbags. Thus, I'm seriously interested in what you'd sell two for.

 

[waveman2010]

Well that's very kind of you, bear with me and I'll cost up the materials. will try out the osmo oil, might be kinder to young tummies than the linseed, I'm sure someone will try to eat one.

 

[dh7892]

They look very nice. Nice project.

I use Danish oil on guitar builds but I don't know how safe that is.

People use parafin oil to treat chopping boards so that must be mouth-safe (someone correct me if I'm wrong here!)

How are they to tune? Looks like you've gone for a simple peg system for the tuning heads. What are the strings made from?

EDIT: also, I've just noticed that they have 7 strings!

 

[waveman2010]

I'll try some of both, I guess they both work well with maple?. I thought I might try with a slightly different hardwood maybe cherry next time as it seems quite easy to get hold of. Strings are steel the 4 base strings are wound. I threaded them through a small metal bead concealed in a slot in the base to lock them in and just used some left over guitar fret for the bridge. Tuning is a bit fiddly at first 4 or 5 times through but after a couple of days they seem to hold tune fairly well. On the earlier subject the teacher does not recommend them for the very little ones as the steel strings are fairly hard on tiny fingers and she supervises them while they are playing 6 or 7 year olds minimum?. I might try them with nylon strings. project just started is a 22 string harp. might keep a photo record is anyone interested in a beginner woodworker fumbling through something like this? :lol: Kev.

edit: 5, 7 or 10 strings seem normal for pentatonic lyres. if interested top E was a 14, D - 15, B - 17, A - 24, G - 24, Bot E 32 and Bot D 32.