Suggestions for Harp Strings???

[Tina]

Good morning Everybody,

     It's time to "ask the experts", so I'm turning to you for help.  I'm working on a design for an Irish Harp window for the new Irish Heritage Center opening soon.  Have the basic design finished, but need suggestions as to how to handle the strings for the harp.  Overall harp measurements are approximately 34" high x 17" wide.  The longest string measures 27 inches long, and the shortest is about 4" long, with 14 strings within a 10" area.  Would it be better to cut very thin strips of glass for the strings and alternate with thin strips of the background glass (which will probably be a green cathedral), or should I use a solid piece of green background glass and apply strips of copper foil directly to it, using the solder as the strings?

     Any and all suggestions are very much appreciated!


     

[JoanFrances]

you could used pretined wire as the over lay, rather than the foil. 

[Wayne]

I too would consider using wires.  Make sure the design has a way of keeping the wires stable/straight so that when the panel is cleaned months later by the client the wires are not bent out of shape.

[Audrey]

I would certainly go with the wires.

[PiscesGlass]

My vote would be for the wire as well, you could use anywhere from 14 gauge to 18 gauge, the 14 gauge would be the most stable with regard to being bent later on.  I'd stretch the wire prior to applying it to the project, but I think that would definitely make the harp look more realistic and be slightly less work than cutting several thin strips and using the solder lines as the harp strings.

De

[Lou Ann]

I did a guitar a few years ago and I used 22 gauge wire -- I had 6 strings within less than 1/2" of space...

If you have the room for it, I would definitely go for the heavier gauge wire, I also found some wire that was already copper in the hardware department and I used that for the 2 top strings and silver for the bottom 4 strings...

As Wayne said, you need to find a place to tack the wire to the design so it doesn't get bent because I had a heck of a problem when I failed to do that the second time around

can't wait to see a picture of the finished piece

Lou Ann

[Graham]

I agree with everyone on the wire.
Although heavy (12-14 gauge) wire is less likely to be bent out of shape, it's also the hardest to straighten, should it get bent.
Aside from gluing it down, I don't know how you'd stabilize it so it doesn't get bent. The best defense against bending would be clear instructions to the customer. "Clean only along the wires! Never across!! or it will cost you"
Straightening the wires is a maintenance cost. De-solder one end, pull straight and re-solder @ 10.00 per string. That should convince them to clean it carefully.
IMHO - Sizes of wire should depend on what looks most realistic in scale to the size of the harp.

[Kev]

Having all those wires to solder into place and then ensure they are straight, plus having to clean the panel once they are in place sounds like a real pain in the butt. How about applying masking tape like a stencil for the wires, and applying paint for the wires. You could even use the peabo paints that you bake on the glass in your oven. The wires would add a nice dimensional look though, but from a distance, they are going to look like black lines anyway.

[PiscesGlass]

Not so bad to clean, anything I've put wire overlays on I've cleaned with a soft bristle brush in warm soapy water and it's worked out ok.
And same for polishing, apply polish, clean what you can with rags and finish by cleaning with a toothbrush or other soft bristle brush.

The paint would be another good alternative though, for those that don't want the bother of cleaning between the wire.

De

[Tina]

Thanks to all of you for replying so quickly!!!

It sounds like either painted lines or real wire will be the way to go -- definitely better than trying to cut and fit 3/16ths wide strips for the wire.  I appreciate all your tips and suggestions -- it's so helpful to have the benefit of your experience in something like this.

I promise to put up some pics once I begin.

Thanks again for all your help!
 

[Kev]

The other alternative as previously mentioned is foil applied and then soldered over to create an overlay on the glass.

[JoanFrances]

not knowing what the pattern looks like makes this hard to determine, (however it sounds like the piece is pretty large)  but, what would be so bad it the interior of the harp was left open, rather than having a background glass, as long as the interior and exterior are reinforced.  that would eliminate the need to clean in between the wires, and make the piece even more interesting and real like 

[Glassic]

Foil overlay works for me, I don't understand why you would want to cut glass to represent strings when stripping and foiling the green Cathedral will give you finer 'strings' than cutting and adding narrower strips.
If the panel is abstract Bullseye Fracture Streamers would work, but you would be limited by sheet size. Broken guitar strings might, if they are copper, dont know on that one as can't find an odd one lying about to test!

[Vic Rothman]

Use wires. You can stretch the wire to straighten them. The glass behind the wires is 27x10? If so maybe you can break that piece of glass up a bit and spot solder the wires to those breaks.

[Graham]

Not so bad to clean, anything I've put wire overlays on I've cleaned with a soft bristle brush in warm soapy water and it's worked out ok.

Yup!
Wire curly-cues would take a great deal of care, but straight lines, no problemo!

[Graham]

Use wires. You can stretch the wire to straighten them. The glass behind the wires is 27x10? If so maybe you can break that piece of glass up a bit and spot solder the wires to those breaks.

That would just give one more, but shorter, wires to be careful of.

[Tre V]

Would tinned copper tubing be less succeptible to bending during cleaning? Just a thought..?

[Judy K]

You said the longest wire is 27 inches. That does sound like trouble in the future from any number of sources if it is loose. Vic's response of a little design adjustment to that background piece to give you places to tack the long wires to, makes a lot of sense.

I hope we get to see your idea 

I have a drawer full of old guitar strings in differet widths. Check at your local music store that gives lessons, tell them what you are doing and ask them for old strings. Experiment with the old curly ends that you have to cut off anyway. If they can't be tinned , try a foil wrap and tinning just where they will be attached to the piece. The brass wrapped strings in different widths would look cool.

Old strings will be dirty. Wash then good before trying to solder or tin them.

[Kev]

And guitar strings are more pliable than regular wire.

[Vic Rothman]

Would tinned copper tubing be less succeptible to bending during cleaning? Just a thought..?

tubing foil overlay etc would be too thick and thus out of scale (no pun intended)