Tuesday 13 December 2011

Spoon carvers Khomus harp...

Well...
There it is...
I've reached the grand old age of 50.
Really not so bad as I've found out.
Sarah and I gave a small bash here at home where my oldest and closest friends joined together and ate a splendid lamb Balti, cooked by Richard and Tas.

jon mac spoon carving first steps

My good friends and family all chipped in and bought me a new edge tool.
An Adze from G.Bruks.
Sweden.

jon mac spoon carving first steps

Now I can hollow out my larger bowls and Ale hens a little quicker than when using the hook knife.

spoon carving first steps

Thank you all so much....

Sarah had been busy with other secrets as well.
She had spent the summer trawling around trying to find a Khomus mouth harp.
She finally tracked one down at Hobgoblin London.
It was a complete surprise when I opened the small parcel on the morning of my birthday.

khomus jews harp spoon carving first steps

This delicate instrument came without a case.
So I decided to make one for it as soon as I could...

khomus kuksa spoon carving first steps

Well... It did the job...

khomus jews harp spoon carving first steps

But Dolly and Choti thought I could make a better one.

spoon carving first steps

So I squared of another piece of Birch with my Axe and started afresh.
The first one was made with a knife and hook knife to start with... I'm afraid to say that because of the small size of the box I decided that I would have to employ another small tool.

spoon carving first steps

A tiny relief carvers gauge.
You can make it out in the centre of the picture.
As you know, I usually limit myself to three simple tools.
Axe, Knife and hook knife.
But on this occasion I had no choice as the dimensions of the box were dictated by the dimensions of the Khomus.

spoon carving first steps

Well here it is...

khomus jews harp spoon carving first steps

I can pop the cord around my neck and wear it as a pendant for safe keeping.
It has a camel bone bead on the back to keep the cord tight.

khomus jews harp spoon carving first steps

And I managed to hide the cord holes underneath the harp...

khomus jews harp spoon carving first steps

Here is a movie of me playing my super Khomus harp


I have played a mouth harp for about forty years.
But not one of such quality.
I will keep practising.
And enjoy the unique sound that these instruments produce.
Happy days.

Enjoy...

J






8 comments:

  1. Heeha WoW! That is some awesome music making there Jon, Well Done!

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  2. Choti seemed totally engrossed in the music. Or asleep. No, no, I'm sure she was paying rapt attention! :)

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  3. Happy birthday, happy adzing and happy "harping!"

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  4. Happy birthday! Great to see you have a great time and enjoy being 50. I actually was just given my grandfather's jaw harp, and I've been trying to learn how to use it. Very cool case!

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  5. Wow Jon, i have to say this is one of the most beautiful and inspiring blogs i've seen to date- thanks for the inspiration and for linking up with us, cheers, and keep up th' good work- ~Rico

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  6. Thanks all... Wishing you a happy new year...J

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  7. Very nice. It is cool that your friends got together and got you that adze. I have had my eye on those for a while now. Nice blog too. I am enjoying it.

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  8. mate i recon you and me were separated at birth lol,ive been wanting to get a jews harp for ages.

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