[Harp-L] test tube rack harp case

[Joel Fritz <jfritz666@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

A friend of mine who's much better at wood working than I am has used a 
harp case of his own design for many years.  He added a shadowbox/pigeon 
hole segment to an old suitcase.  He stores the harps vertically, each 
in its own pigeon hole.

I didn't trust myself to make a shadowbox so I used some particle 
board--you could use plywood too--and used a hole saw to make 1 1/2" 
holes.  I used three pieces of particle board. The top two tiers had 
matching sets of holes and the bottom is the base.  It works like a test 
tube rack.  The two pieces of particle board with the holes keep the 
harp vertical.  I glued pieces of wood between the tiers to give a total 
height of a little over 3", about right for a diatonic harp.  From the 
side it looks kind of like this.  The "()"s are the holes.  I made a 3 x 
4 grid.

--()-()-()-()--
||           ||
--()-()-()-()--
|||||||||||||||
---------------

It's not the most elegant piece of cabinet making ever, but it holds 12 
harps securely.  I put it in an old makeup case--available on Ebay for 
under $10--so the worst looking parts are hidden. An inexpensive plastic 
tool box would work too. There's room for a couple of mics, some spare 
harps, and a cord. I imagine that if I had a table saw it would look 
considerably nicer. I'm still debating about painting it.

Tools needed--saw, drill, hole saw.  I also used a combination square, 
but that's a frill. <g>  I also thought about gluing together twelve 
3"-3 1/2" pieces of plastic pipe.  The half sheet of particle board fit 
into my car better than a long piece of plastic pipe.  The pipe method 
gives you a lot of room to expand.

Since the case I've used for the last twenty years is the lunch box my 
daughter used in pre-school this is a significant step up.
--


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