The story, continued

Now the fine-shaping and sanding and scraping began. Rock maple is a hard hardwood. I took many hours, and lots of elbow grease, but the maple really scrapes and sands down to a beautiful, mirror-like finish.

I used Behlen Solar-Lux medium red mahogany wood dye to stain the harp. The many hours of preparation payed off; the stain went down beautifully and transformed the “white” surface into a nice reddish-brown, enhancing the wood grain.