Gluing the Laurel and Hardy way

It took a whole week to get the glue off my hands! I am making my new 'Elizabethan' harp, Mystical, with 4 sets of strings which means it will have a luted soundboard and therefore a different design. I started joining the top of the soundbox to the 'neck' of the harp and discovered a problem ... screws and drillbits are just not long enough. I tried to buy some - must be very specialist as the local DIY shop couldn't help. Nevermind I thought - I will use some of that expanding glue.....arghhhhhhh....(as it turned out).

The plastic container of glue had been put deliberately to the back of the cupboard after the last attempt. It sets so fast that I could feel that the top half was solid, but, if I sawed the bottle in half (I am impossibly practical - 'waste not, want not'). I thought I was prepared - a metal tray, old honey jar at hand to pour it into, masking tape and plastic stuck all over the harp, newspaper on the floor, etc etc.

Two hours later it had finally set hard and I had finished scraping all the 'runs' off the harp and had trimmed my hair from its new fashion of 'christmas-tree-like' baubles. It burst straight through the masking tape, managed to fill the tray and expand to the table and all attempts at keeping my hands clean were futile. ... BUT ... it did solve the problem ... however ... do I do this again or can a better method be found?

I'm taking over the Blog!

Hello there - this is Fiona-Katie. I am taking over the writing of this blog as Dave is writing a book and needs more time. This morning was better than the usual Monday morning blues ...
Thank you to the bride who rang me to comment how different and beautiful my music was...(wow) and thank you to the Rainhall Centre who sent off an amazing review of the concert with James Hutton on Saturday night. All good. Off now to make a jig (?) think that is what it is called anyway. I have 4 soundboards to put together and am making something to hold them in place whilst they are glued/fibreglassed!