Pics of the Mothers day project

Here is what I'm building. The top is mahogany, the back is some kind of ply with a cherry back. The sides are solid cherry. I've traced everything so I have patterns to build another one.
The place I bought it from is ok with this kind of thing and even sold me the second set of hardware. They sell plans for many of their instruments but this is new for them and plans aren't available yet. They sell plans/kits/complete - harps/guitars/banjos/dulcimers etc.



Here I'm gluing up the frame. It's just 4 pieces and the plans say to just tape the joints but I added the one clamp too. The joints were pretty good but I did sweeten up a couple of them.



I glued/clamped the top/back by simply placing a board on top of it and piling weight on it.
About 150 pounds to get the joints tight. I hate using a bunch of clamps, it's so much harder to keep things lined up.



Here it is with the edges trimmed. I then used a lot of elbow grease and some 40 grit to clean up the edges, followed by 100/150/220/400 grit.



Here it is hung up after the edges have been rounded over by router and sanding block. It also has a couple applications of danish oil.

It has to dry for 3 days and then I'll do 3 coats of wipe-on poly. After that I can install hardware and strings. Hopefully it will be complete by the weekend!