Having an Old-Timers Moment

[James A. Wolfe]

A few months back (or maybe a year or two) there was a link here to a series of videos showing a young man building a stringed instrument similar to a sitar or bouzouki but it had a segmented, gourd shaped back. I can't remember the name or the ethnicity of the thing and I think my head is starting to cramp up. Can somebody help a brother out?

Thanx,

Jim

[george wilson]

Jameel Kahlaff in the FAQ section of the neanderthal forum makes ouds. Go check out the FAQ section.

Unfortunately,I can't see that he included how to cooper the SIDES of the bent ribs to get a close fit. I did this by taking a thick plank of maple,and ripping it on a diagonal with the bandsaw. Then,the 2 pie slice shaped pieces were attached together,sawn sides OUT,with corrugated fasteners. Then,they were run through a planer to smooth up the saw cuts. Next,the pie sectioned wedges were separated. The shape of the ribs has to be sawn out of the wedge. To do this,it is important to accurately prop up the wedge exactly 1/2 of the angle it is,and while thoroughly supported,saw out the shape on the bandsaw,then smooth it up while still supported with a disc sanding machine.

To clarify: If the rib mold is a 10º angle(a purely arbitrary number),it must be accurately supported at 5 degrees to saw the shape out. I recommend making 2 accurate 5 degree wedges,and nailing them to a piece of plywood that is FLAT. Nail the RIB wedge you're making to the 5 deg. wedges. The flat plywood will provide 100% accurate support while you are sawing out the rib wedge shape and sanding it.

In use,the parallel sides rib is bent,as Jameel shows. then,using double sided tape on the master wedge,stick on your wedge and carefully plane it down to just fit the master wedge. DO NOT CUT THE MASTER WEDGE!!!!!!! If you do,your master is ruined.

It is not necessary for your wedges to come out perfectly EVEN at a 180º body where they meet the top. Usually,lutes have the last 2 wedges left thick where they meet the top. Then,the final wedges can be made flat to the top by carefully planing them,using a flat surface to hold the body against. If you look at old round back mandolins,the last 2 wedges are much wider than the small wedges comprising most of the body. This is less pronounced on lutes,but it is still there.

An end clasp is wrapped and glued around the body opposite the neck end. This also hides any inequity in the fitting of the ribs there they taper to points. There must be a neck block made to fit the body internally at the neck end,and the body is sawn off to receive the neck,eliminating those little sharp tips at that end also.