For my third prototype, I purchased dowels hoping they would bend better than the bamboo I used previously. I began building the prototype over thanksgiving break, and as I was away from Wooster, my father, master plumber and Super Cool Dad Michael McLoughlin helped me. I first purchased the bowl at a local thrift store, and then a couple of ¼ inch dowels. My father then had the brilliant idea to heat a golf club with a small propane torch, and used it to melt a slight divot into the side of the bowl, to better hold the dowels in place. I then planned to glue the dowels to the bowl, and then bend them and secure them to the crossbar, creating a cheap stable frame with arms that were bent in a way that more resemble images of the barbitos in ancient art.
Circular plastic bowl purchased at thrift shop to use as a base for my third prototype 
Propane torch used to melt divots into side of bowel to hold dowels for lyre arms 
Lyre frame for prorotype 3, the arms would not bend
This did not work. The dowels, while considerably easier to bend than bamboo, did not bend enough. As they were already glued to the base, I then attempted to bend them retroactively while being attached to the base. I soaked them in the bath, and steamed them with a clothes iron trying to make them pliable enough to bend. This did not work. I assumed the dowels would bend easily enough that I did not need to bend them into shape prior to attaching them to the frame, this was a (huge) misconception. In future, it is essential to bend wood into its desired shape BEFORE it is attached to anything (this is not a stunning new revelation but I have no idea what I am doing). I am sure the dowels would have bended given proper time or instruction, but as time is running short, and I felt I had learned at least a little – I have decided to move onto the final lyre’s construction. Sometime in the future I will go back and finish this prototype (you can never have too many lyres) but for I will be focusing on the construction of my final lyre.