The great-grandaddy of the guitar--Oud making

[Jameel Abraham]

A few members, and most notably Jim Becker asked me to post some info on the instruments I make, a sort of "How it's made" (am I the only one who loves that show?:D) for ouds. As a relative newcomer to SMC, I've gleaned lots of great info in the few short months since joining. So I though I should take some time and give a little back, for what it's worth. I hope at least a few of you enjoy this thread.

First off, a little history. The oud is a 5000 year old instrument that is still being played today, most notable in the Levant, the Arabian peninsula, N. Africa, Greece, Turkey, and throughout the Meditteranean. It is the direct ancestor of the European Lute (think Rennaisance paintings). The word "lute" comes directly from the Arabic word "Al Oud". Oud means "wood" in Arabic. The oud made its way through N. Africa up through Spain and became the lute, which eventually begat the guitar. Both the oud and the lute are very similar in form and sound. Although they are played in very different ways. At the end of this thread I'll post some videos of the ouds I make as well as some audio clips.

[glenn bradley]

Excellent Jameel. I've been curious since your BS post.

[Jameel Abraham]

The oud is made much like any other guitar-like string instrument. Only the best woods are used for the various parts, well-seasoned, quartersawn tonewoods of a great variety are utilized. Since the bowl (the back) is the first thing to be made, I'll start there. There are several different "styles" of ouds, depending on where they are built. Turkish instruments are smaller, Egyptian, a bit larger and deeper sounding. Syrian, somewhere in-between. I build ouds based on the style of the Nahat family of luthiers from Damascus Syria. They were prolific from the mid-1800's to the about the 1940's. A Christian family of fine furniture and instrument-makers, several generations of Nahat were masters luthiers, and today their instruments are viewed as the pinnacle of the craft. Some of the best Nahat ouds were made by John Nahat, George Nahat or Abdo Nahat.

Okay, on to the bowl. The bowl is made from 13-19 ribs of hardwood, almost always made of walnut, but also made of beech, maple, mahogany or other nut woods. Much less often, tropical hardwoods are used, such as rosewood or blackwood. Nowadays, some luthiers are taking their cues from the guitar scene and making ouds with various rosewoods. I tend to use local Iowa woods, since I have access to excellent walnut, cherry and maple.

Two ways of making bowl, one without a form, and one with. I've done both. But first the ribs must be bent over a hot iron:

http://www.khalafoud.com/Personal/Jameel/Images/Oud_Construction/020%20Bending%20ribs.jpg

Nowadays I'm using a heating blanket and a form to do multiple ribs:

http://khalafoud.com/images/personal/bender.jpg


Once the end blocks are carved out, the fitting of the ribs takes place using an inverted plane:

http://www.khalafoud.com/Personal/Jameel/Images/Oud_Construction/022%20Rib%20planing.jpg

or a sandpaper covered flat surface:

http://www.khalafoud.com/Personal/Jameel/Images/Oud_Construction/024%20Sanding%20rib%20edge.jpg

When the edge is flat, it gets glued to the blocks and the previous rib.

http://www.khalafoud.com/Personal/Jameel/Images/Oud_Construction/029%20Two%20ribs.jpg

Method using a form:

http://khalafoud.com/images/personal/mould.jpg
(http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?action=attachment&tid=3959&pid=26034)

[John Bailey]

This is great Jameel, I'll be watching this one very closely. By the way, what type of wood do you use for the good ones?

John

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Oh....Jameel....I'm enjoying this already!

[Chris Bolton]

This is interesting stuff and am looking forward to your updates. I studied lute in university through to a master's programme. I play renaissance and baroque lute, as well as the theorbo, and played professionally for a number of years. I have some pictures of some instruments which I'll post online. THe renaissance lute is a curly maple bowl, the theorbo has a English Yew and the baroque lute has a a rosewood bowl. The tonal qualities of the instrument are greatly influenced by the choice of wood of the bowl.
I've made a couple of instruments at the shop of local builder and am just in the process of being able to make more instruments at home.

How do you thickness the ribs for the instrument? Do you use the bandsaw and then handplane? I was wondering if you've ever used the Wagner Safe T Planer on the drill press and how well it works.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Planes/Wagner_Safe-T-Planer.html


Here are some pics of my instruments.

This is an 8 course Renaissance Lute with a Curly Maple bowl.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/98/385992848_336846c6a4.jpg

This is a detail of the Rose (soundhole) of the Renaissance Instrument. The Soundboard is about 2mm thick (or thin !!) and is carved out with a craft type exacto knife.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/164/385993010_01ea2f2522_m.jpg


The following is a Renaissance 8 course instrument (smaller and on the left) and a 13 course Baroque Lute

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/127/385994918_b955a12f45_m.jpg

This is the back of the 2 instruments. The left is a curly maple bowl and the other is a rosewood bowl.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/140/385995280_c77b10b874_m.jpg


Best of all ... No biscuits were harmed in the making of these instruments :)

[scott spencer]

Very cool Jameel...thanks for taking the time to post the pics and the history.

[Howard Rosenberg]

Hi Jameel -

Thank you for these photos of your oud processes.

Please - keep the photos and tutorials coming.

Howard

P.S. - when I lived in Tel Aviv many years ago my neighbours were named Khallaf. They were all musicians and synthesized unlikely musical traditions in a real interesting manner. You haven't lived until you hear Django Rheinhadt music on an oud!

[glenn bradley]

Count me in on the 'very cool' vote. The whole luthier (if that's the correct term) thing is fascinating. Plus your instruments are beautiful.

[Jim Becker]

Oh, yes...this is going to be fun! Keep it coming as your time allows, Jameel!

[Dave Richards]

Very nice. Thank you for showing this. It looks very much like you're building a boat. ;)

[Jameel Abraham]

WOW! What a response. Thanks everybody! I'm looking forward to continuing this...


This is great Jameel, I'll be watching this one very closely. By the way, what type of wood do you use for the good ones?

John

I try to make them all "good ones" :rolleyes:, so I use the best materials I can. Walnut is an excellent tonewood. The bowl is not a huge factor in sound production, but I use typical face woods like Englemann Spruce, Western Red Cedar, etc. The best old ouds used Lebanon Cedar, but no one can get their hands on that nowadays.


How do you thickness the ribs for the instrument? Do you use the bandsaw and then handplane? I was wondering if you've ever used the Wagner Safe T Planer on the drill press and how well it works.

Nice lutes, Chris. I love that curly maple! I thickness the ribs using my planer if the wood is not temperamental, like walnut. For grumpy woods I resaw close, then thickness sand. I don't have the safety planer, but I know lots of guys use them with good results. I think they are better for narrower pieces.

Howard, the Khalaf name is pretty popular I guess. My last name is legally "Abraham", they changed it to that when my greatgrandfather came over, since his middle name was "Ibrahim". When I registered, I goofed up a couple times and couldnt use Abraham, so I used "Khalaf" instead. I suppose I should change it.

[Jameel Abraham]

Very nice. Thank you for showing this. It looks very much like you're building a boat. ;)

Hey Dave, I was just in Rochester a couple days ago! Small world....

[Jameel Abraham]

Fitting the ribs can be a real tedious job. I'm a bit of a stickler for good joints, so I shine an LED flashlight behind the joint to make sure its purrrrfect before gluing. Hot hide glue is the glue of choice, but I use regular old AR glue for the bowl. Hide gets used on the soundboard. To compound matters, some bowl shapes curve back in towards the face, so the profile is not a section of a circle. This makes for compound bends and some really fun :eek: twisting and bending. Its not my favorite part!

So here is a finished bowl of 17 ribs, in walnut:

http://khalafoud.com/images/personal/bowl6.jpg

And Cherry:

http://khalafoud.com/images/personal/cherryb.jpg

By the way, I use a RAM Mount to position my mould. It works GREAT!

http://khalafoud.com/images/personal/ramm.jpg

Some bowls are just left plain, some I do geometric inlay on:

http://khalafoud.com/images/personal/backinlaycomplete.jpg

Here is how I do the geometric inlay:

First I make up sandwich blanks from veneer and thin woods. This one happens to be symmetrical.

http://khalafoud.com/images/personal/lightinlayblanks.jpg

Then I glue them together and end up with this:

http://khalafoud.com/images/personal/lightinlayblank.jpg

Then I cut this slab into 3/8" wide strips and using a small miter box and razor saw I cut them up into 30 degree blocks to make different patterns. It took me a while to figure this out the first time, but its so simple, because a three sided 30 degree triangle makes 90 degrees, so its works perfectly. That was a fun moment!

http://khalafoud.com/images/personal/blocks.jpg

Finally I glue all these together in a little jig that holds them together,

http://khalafoud.com/images/personal/inlayclamp.jpg

and slice them up. I get about 4 or 5, 1mm or so thick strips from this block.

[Dave Richards]

Thiis is just lovely.

Next time you're here, let me know.

[Mike Cutler]

Wow!!!

This is a really cool thread. I've been playing the guitar on and off for almost thirty years, this is fascinating to me.

Excellent work Jameel.

[Luke McFadden]

http://khalafoud.com/images/personal/inlayclamp.jpg

and slice them up. I get about 4 or 5, 1mm or so thick strips from this block.

How do you slice them into thin strips?

[Jameel Abraham]

How do you slice them into thin strips?

Bandsaw with a fine tooth blade and a zero clearance insert.

[Corey Hallagan]

Wow, this is some beautiful work. Thanks for posting Jameel. Chris you have some beautiful instruments as well. Looking forward to more!

Corey

[rick fulton]

Wow Jameel!

Fantastic craftsmanship with excellent photos and essay. This thread definitely rates 5 stars and two thumbs up.

Even if I never build an Oud, some of the ww techniques you've posted here will be incorporated into some future furniture designs. Very inspiring.

Thanks for sharing.
rick

[Paul Douglass]

GREAT GREAT POST!!!! Thank you for taking the time to do it. Beautiful work! Wonder how they did all that back in the old days before good glues and machines? Bet theirs weren't as percise and beautiful.

[Pete Brown]

Jameel, this is easily one of the most interesting threads lately. I'd love to see more.

BTW, that inlay bit alone was worth its weight in gold. I've never done any inlay, but seeing how you were able to make a very complex inlay from that single glue-up really opened my eyes. Thanks!

Pete

[Mark Valsi]

MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE



I SAID MORE !!!!:rolleyes:

[Jamie Buxton]

Jameel, at what point in the construction does the inlay happen? Does it go in while the ribs are still individual and flat? Or does it go in after the bowl is glued up? It seems from your post that it is the latter. It seems to me that cutting the hole for the inlay would be very challenging on the completed bowl.

...not that "challenging" seems to bother you!

[Ralph Dobbertin]

Jameel: that is some incredible work. Congratulations: you'll need to add a sound file of some of the music that comes from your creation

[Jameel Abraham]

Okay, you guys are keeping me from the shop, I hope you know! :p Thanks for the nice comments. You guys are motivating.

I don't know of a quick way to quote a bunch of different replies, so I'll just preface it with your name.

Rick, I'd love to see some furniture with these geometric pattern in them. I've been meaning to try some of these on a larger scale, and they would be quite easy and very dramatic in the right piece.

Paul, just wait until later in the thread, I'll post some pics of an oud made in 1917. It will blow your mind. The inlay is so precise and incredible. I'll save it for later, since its really quite something. These guys may have had bandsaws and big machines for getting the big stuff down to size, but they used hand tools for the real precise stuff.

Jamie, the inlay goes in after the bowl is complete:

First I take my slices and arrange them on the bowl the way I want with some masking tape and scribe around them with a 11 Exacto knife to actually cut the fibers. I dont use a scribe or an awl since its not fine enough.

57599

Then I use a Dremel with a little base I made to rout the mortise. I use a spiral bit, and stay a tiny bit away from the scribe line. I rout to a depth of 1mm (I use the metric system when I make ouds, its way easier)

57597

After I rout the mortise, I clean up the edge by registering my chisel directly in the scribed line and cutting away the waste. The inlay fits perfectly. I then glue the inlay in with a caul that matches the curve of the bowl and a layer of cork to equalize the pressure. Oh yeah, I should say that I take this fragile inlay slice and bend only the straight sections (not the areas with little diamonds) over my iron to match the curve of the bowl. The triangle areas may in fact snap on the glue line when placing them in the mortise, buts its not an issue since the whole thing is getting glued in place, and the curve is so subtle from triangle to triangle that its not visible at all.

57598

[Jameel Abraham]

After the bowl is made, the joints inside are reinforced with glued paper. Oud ribs are generally about 2mm thick.

57600

[Greg Peterson]

Jameel -

Thanks for taking the time to share your talents and skill. Your work is inspiring.

[Richard Wolf]

Great work. How many hours does it take to complete one with the inlay?

Richard

[Brian Hale]

Very Cool Jameel!!

Now i see what that bandsaw is used for. ;)

Thanks for showing us the construction details. Looks like you've mastered them artfully!

Brian :)

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Fantastic!

Everything looks so delicate. And all those complex curved surfaces! Without a doubt, you are very skillful.

-Jeff :)

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Great photographic work and really sweet instruments too.
I've wanted to make one of these for awhile. Interestingly I have been trying to figure a mechanical way to make Old fashioned wood barrels and your bowl construction approach is very nearly exactly the best approach I have been able to come up with.
(absent actrually learing the trade of cooperage)


I am most interested in the neck joint. I hope you take some good images of that process


Years ago when guitar building I went with the integral neck joint (traditional spanish style) as opposed the the more modern dovetailed neck such as what Martin uses.

However, you have two neck joints that are both highly stressed. One at the body and another at the tuning head. I'd really like to see that process.

Guitars use wood bracing to strengthen a the body and help with tuning the instrument. However you said you are using glued paper. What is the paper doing for you and is there a reason not to use wood bracing?


As I said I find this most interesting.

[Rich Torino]

I'm absolutely blown away.... I couldn't do anything like that in a million years... Please post some more of your finished work....

[Chris Bolton]

The string tension on the lute (and I'm assuming the oud as well) is nowhere near the tension on a steel string guitar.
For example the string tension on a lute would be somewhere between 2-4 KG approximately, whereas on say, a Grand Piano the string tension on a Grand Piano would be 50 KG or more per string. If you've ever heard a piano string pop ... look out. Because of the increased tension on steel string guitars, sometimes builders will incorporate a truss rod (to compensate for the necks tendency to bow), whereas you wouldn't need one on a classical guitars, due to less tension on the neck, a truss rod isn't necessary.

[Bill White]

worth following. Exquisite workmanship. Keep 'em coming.
Bill

[Don Bullock]

Amazing!!!! Now that's what I call a true craftsman keeping age old techniques alive.

[Jameel Abraham]

Great work. How many hours does it take to complete one with the inlay?

Richard

Thanks Richard. I really only work on the weekends, so I dont know exactly. This oud took about a year to make, but if I was working 8 hour days, maybe a month?


Great photographic work and really sweet instruments too.
I am most interested in the neck joint. I hope you take some good images of that process

Guitars use wood bracing to strengthen a the body and help with tuning the instrument. However you said you are using glued paper. What is the paper doing for you and is there a reason not to use wood bracing?

As I said I find this most interesting.

Thanks Cliff. I'll have some pics of different neck joints I use.
The bowl is really quite strong, much like an egg shell. I think the paper strips are just to reinforce the joints should any thing get stressed for some reason. Some makers cover the whole inside with a paste of glue and wood chips, but I find this messy to do and not very nice looking either, plus its probably not the best for sound. The flat back of a guitar is completely different than a bowl-back instrument, and serves different purposes acoustically. It's almost like a second soundboard. It also reflects the sound a different way and also acts like a "pump" for the air movement, much moreso than a bowl shape.

To everyone else that responded, thanks! I'll keep this post going, and add some more pics perhaps this evening.

One thing I'd like to say to those who think they can't do something like this. I started making these things about 5 years ago. Before that, I was doing typical woodwork, furniture, cabinets, lots of carving. The finest work I was doing typical joinery, and some small carving like chip carving. I also did some conventional carving with typical carving tools. I was really daunted by the whole instrument making thing. The precision involved was like nothing I'd ever tried. But in the end, my hands adapted to the work, and I developed techniques for working this way. It's quite a different feeling to handle workpieces that would shatter under the handling conditions for a typical chair or cabinet. I had to really slow down and be delicate. Once I got used to it, I learned to really like working on something so small. I didn't have to manhandle such large workpieces, I could sit at my bench and work quietly with hand tools. There was much more working with the wood itself, instead of spening hours jointing, planing, ripping---breaking down parts--that one would normally do when building casework. In the end, it's just a matter of reorienting your already existing talents and skills. Plus, you get a double feeling of accomplishment not only when you finish this piece of beautiful woodwork, but when someone plays some incredible music on it. It's like hearing something you made talk for the first time. Yeah, I think I'll keep making them. :D

[Jameel Abraham]

There are different ways of attaching the neck to the bowl. The most common historical way has been to use a dowel. Other methods include dovetails, or tenons. The string action (height of the strings above the fingerboard--for those not familiar with the term) raises up over time, so its debatable whether any of these joints is better than another, since they will all eventually have to be disassbled at some point. Some makers are incorporating an adjusting mechanism into the neck itself to compensate for this, but I haven't tried that yet. Not brave enough I guess!

Truss rods, and Chris mentioned are not necessary for this type of instrument, especially since the neck is so short (~8"). However, sometimes a stringer of stiffer wood is laminated into the neck to help keep the neck itself straighter over time. Another method is to use a core wood of spruce or something light and stiff, and veneer the neck, the veneer providing a stiffening factor once glued to the core.

Here is an example of a dovetail-and-stringer neck joint.

Here I'm cutting the dovetail into the neck block. Yeah yeah, I know. Risky cut. Actually, looking back on this, that's pretty stupid way to do it. No risk to the operator really, but this makes me nervous just looking at it!:eek:

57740

Here is the stringer with some wegdes glued on to make the dovetail

57742

The parts of the neck ready to be glued together

57741

This is where the pegbox (the tuning head) will be glued

57743

[Jameel Abraham]

Stringer only, African Blackwood and walnut

57745

57746

How the pegbox fits

57747

After gluing and shaping

57748

[Jameel Abraham]

With the joinery done and fitted

57749

I temp glued (with a newspaper layer) the neck to a work block so I could work on it without clamping directly to the neck. I shaped it round with plane and sandpaper

57750

veneering the neck with bicycle innertube. These work great for clamping anything odd shaped. I use them all the time. And I have plenty since I'm also a cyclist (still fat though!)

57751

A closer look at the dovetail. I was going to use a stringer too (thus the dado), but never did on this one.

57754

[Jameel Abraham]

I usually do this with a RAS or SCMS, but with the veneer on this one, I decided to go with the razor saw. (It's a Irwin from Menards--cheap and good! "...you'll save big money, you'll save big money...." You'd think they'd change that song after 20 some years! Sheesh!)

57756

The jig would be really slick if I sunk some rare earth magnets in there. Next time...

57758

I get good results with the razor saw.

57759

Okay, whew! I'm worn out for tonight! Plus, I've been holding it for like 30 minutes! :eek:

[Jim Becker]

Wow...if you can do that with the neck and peg board...chairs should be easy!! LOL! Thanks again for this continuing saga. It's wonderful!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jameel.........I knew I was going to like this thread! Keep 'em coming!

[Pete Brown]

Quit holding it and come post some more ;)

Seriously, that is great stuff. Thanks for posting.

Oh, and that innertube glue-up looks like you're trying to keep something from escaping. heh

Pete

[Al Navas]

Keep it up, Jameel! I am learning that I don't know anything about things musical, and even less about things that make the music. This is pretty special stuff.

As an aside, our Woodworkers Guild is planning a trip in August to Kansas City Strings, a company that repairs, rents, and sells string instruments and bows in all sizes and price ranges. I am looking forward to that!


.

[Alan Greene]

Jameel,
Incredible work. The attention to detail is outstanding, your patience and perseverance are to be commended. I am looking forward to future installments.:)

[Jim Dunn]

I thought I had seen it all, or most of it, but that was before I saw this thread. WOWWW!

[Paul Douglass]

Sure hope this thread is saved in the articles and reviews section when complete. Great job!

[Zahid Naqvi]

Jameel, shukran. This is a wonderful thread. The inlay and geometric banding you created was so simple yet so elegant in the final finish.

[Jameel Abraham]

Thanks Jim, Ken, Pete, Al, Alan, Jim, Paul, and afwan Zahid!

Here are some pics of how I make the pegbox.

I glue a paper template to my blank for the walls of the pegbox and drill holes for the pegs through before resawing. I cut the shape with the bandsaw then resaw the walls.
57885

The back of the pegbox is covered with a thinner piece, about 2mm thick. I cut the inlay mortises for this one before I bent it to shape and glued it to the sides. Then the inlay went it.

57886

To top off the tip of the pegbox I turned a little finial from a piece of tagua. Tool me three tries before I got it right.

57887

[Jameel Abraham]

Couple more shots of a pegbox in progress. The notch is for the stringer that runs through the neck. It strengthens the joint between the neck and the pegbox.

57889

57890

[Jim Becker]

Tagua nuts are a wonderful substitute for ivory and certainly more "friendly"...nice job on the finial!

[Jameel Abraham]

So after I glue the neck and pegbox on I make the soundboard, or face.

Here are a couple pics of the body of the oud finished

57891

and a close-up of the inlay on the back of the neck. The white diamond is bone.

57892

[Jameel Abraham]

I made some fancy diamonds using similar blanks as on the bowl.

I cut out the pieces with my little miter box and razor saw

57893

Then I clamp each one in my shooting jig and true it up with my trusty L-N low angle block

57894

Finally I arrange the pieces and glue then together.

57895

I dont have a picture of this, but the way I resaw these little diamonds is to route a 1.3mm deep mortise into a scrap of MDF or something that matches the shape, just as if I was inlaying it. Then I use a flush cutting razor saw to slice off a piece. The piece in the mortise becomes my inlay. I then true up the face of the big chunk with a fine plane (grabbing the diamond and wiggling it across the cutting edge of the plane as I hold it upside down) or sandpaper and repeat. I get 5 slices from this chunk if I'm careful.

[John Gornall]

Thank you for a fine piece of instruction.

This is as good as the internet gets!

[Jameel Abraham]

Around the soundhole (sometimes there are three, sometimes just one) is a ring of mosaic tiles. Here's how I do it

Start with two slabs, one for each of the two tile designs used for this pattern. I glue these up in slabs about 3" x 12"

57898

Slice 'em up with the bandsaw about 3mm thick

57899

Using the drill press I sand a curve into what will be the inside of the rosette.

57900

Then cut off the tile, and sand again

57901

Then I take all those little tiles, clamp them in this little pivoting jig to simultaneously sand the outer curve and establish the final width of the tile.

57902

[Jameel Abraham]

Curves and final width established

57905

Shooting the bevels so the edges match perfectly

57906

Ready for gluing.

57907

[Chris Bolton]

I've wanted to make one of these for awhile. Interestingly I have been trying to figure a mechanical way to make Old fashioned wood barrels and your bowl construction approach is very nearly exactly the best approach I have been able to come up with.
(absent actrually learing the trade of cooperage)


One of the first pic's in Jameel's post was of an inverted plane used to shape the ribs. And Cliff brought up the point about making barrels and I stumbled across this pic today. Notice the guy with the hat using the inverted plane to shape the rib.

57989

[John Bailey]

Just think Jameel, this all started with you asking about which bandsaw to buy. I dare say, with your talent and patience, you could use an old 3 wheel bench-top and still get good results.

Very nicely done.

John

[Tyler Howell]

Awesome Thread
Pix Police Seal of Approval.
Well done.:cool:

[Douglas Robinson]

This is great! I notice that you have carefully created quite a few jigs for use throughout the project. About how many in all and how long did it take to create them?

I understand your description of how you had to learn to work more delicately. About 5 years ago I built a detailed doll house and had similar issues. Just determining the right tools to use took time with lots or trial and error.

I look forward to the rest of this thread. You are quite creative in developing ways to overcome challanges.

Doug

[Jameel Abraham]

Thanks, John! Yeah, I wish I had the Bridgewood when I built this a couple years ago! My old Grizzly 14" did a fair job though, especially with this smaller stuff. I now know A LOT more about bandsaws, that's for sure. This forum is a great resource.

Thanks Tyler!

Douglas, I built this oud in my spare time (Saturdays and Sundays, well, after church of course!) so I don't know how much time it took. I have a general idea. But you're right, I spent a lot of it making jigs and little doohickeys, so that ate up some real time.

Okay, so more soundboard construction.

So after I make the mosaic tiles I rout the mortise for them to fit in with a circle cutting attachment on my dremel. I use a downcut spiral bit. Then I glue them in one by one and plane and scrape them flush.

58075

[Jameel Abraham]

I cut the soundholes out with the same router, then bind the opening with walnut veneer to seal the endgrain spruce.

So what do you all think of my clamping method? :eek: These are a lot cheaper than K-body's !

58079

[Pete Brown]

I cut the soundholes out with the same router, then bind the opening with walnut veneer to seal the endgrain spruce.

So what do you all think of my clamping method? :eek: These are a lot cheaper than K-body's !


LOL that's awesome!

Pete

[Jim Becker]

Are those the smooth or ribbed version, Jameel?? LOL! :D Seriously, excellent clamping solution for that situation. I would have never thought of that in a million years!

[Belinda Barfield]

Jameel,

Your work is exquisite! I am avidly following your journey to completion. Not only do you have incredible skill, you also have a wonderful ability to explain the process to a layperson like me. Photos are excellet as well. Just out of curiosity . . . if this is your "hobby", what in the world do you do for a "living"? Hope you don't mind me asking. Just wondering if your day job is as remotely creative as the hobby?

I will be following closely, in awe!

[Mathew Nedeljko]

Jameel, thank you so much for sharing your amazing talent. This is truly inspirational work! I love the ingeneous ways that you are using simple geometry to create stunning inlays.

Congrats on the work so far and I'll be watching closesly as the journey moves on to completion. I'm looking forward to actually hearing what it sounds like when it is finished. That must be an awesome sense of accomplishment, hearing the labor of your hands transformed into acoustic wonder.

Jameel, you mentioned that you used a Dremel to rout out the mortises for your inlay. Could you post a pic of the jig you use to mount your Dremel in to do this?

[Jameel Abraham]

I thought you'd like those balloons! :D

Thanks Belinda. I do make some of my money from woodworking, but the bulk of my paycheck comes from painting. You can see some of my work here: http://www.orthodoxsupply.com/iconography.htm

Matthew, its a lot of fun to make an instrument. I highly recommend it.
Here's a pic of my circle cutting attachment for my dremel. It has a fine-adjust. The big hole on the right is where the dremel flex shaft goes. Drill bit is the pivot (also makes the pivot hole). Black knob is the fine adjust.

[Jameel Abraham]

The roses are made of bone or wood, or a combination of the two. Sometimes they are cut from flattened sheets of water buffalo horn. In the old days, ivory was also used. Some makers use plastic nowadays, but I think that's just wrong.

First time I did this I got some bone from Petco and sliced it up. Talk about a nasty job. The stuff is hard as bone! :rolleyes: Anyway, it stinks too.

58104

Now I just buy slabs of bone (much more expensive than Petco, but worth it!) from knife makers supply.

58105

Here is a wood blank ready for bone inlay.

58106

When the whole rose is bone, I epoxy it onto some thin aircraft plywood to reinforce it. The bone is too brittle on its own, although some old makers didnt use the wood backing.

58107

Cutting out the design with a jeweler's saw.

58108

[Jameel Abraham]

One of the smaller roses made of bone. I think this one's just ducky. :p

58109

Calligraphy (my name in Arabic) of micarta for a wood rose. Cut with a scroll saw and slightly carved

58110

Walnut ply and micarta.

58111

100% bone.

58112

[Jameel Abraham]

These are kinda fun:

Cutting inlay pieces with my little miter box. (http://khalafoud.com/images/personal/inlay.wmv)

Shooting the miters (http://khalafoud.com/images/personal/inlay2.wmv)

Shooting the short miter and diamond assembly (http://khalafoud.com/images/personal/inlay3.wmv)

The RAM mount for my mould (http://khalafoud.com/images/personal/ram.wmv)

Scrollsawing the small rose (http://khalafoud.com/images/personal/rosecutting.wmv)

Closer shot of scrollsawing (http://khalafoud.com/images/personal/scrolling.wmv)

[Dennis Peacock]

Very, very beautiful work Jameel. Totally awesome.!!!!!

This is Dennis in Conway, folding up his tools in shame. :)

[Jim Becker]

Oh, my...not only are your instruments gorgeous, your iconic art is exquisite!

[Jim Shaver, Oakville Ont]

Outstanding detail and wonderful instruments Jameel!!


A freind of mine also makes these instruments, Charles Tauber, he described the process once to me, but your pictures make the process come alive!

[Bruce Page]

Jameel, I am in complete awe of your talent and skill.
Where did you learn?

You should be teaching.

[Roy McQuay]

Beautiful work Jameel. I think if I read this thread enough times, I will find that you are teaching. Thank you for sharing and caring enough to explain the process as you have.

[Wilbur Pan]

Jameel,

How do you determine the size of the soundholes for an oud? Are these traditional sizes, or are they sized to the size of the instrument as a whole? Do different oud makers use different size soundholes?

[Bill Simmeth]

(on knees, hands waving toward ground...) I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy.


Thanks Belinda. I do make some of my money from woodworking, but the bulk of my paycheck comes from painting.
I casually read this line and immediately got a mental image of you Monday - Friday on a ladder wearing white bib overalls and a painter's cap. Then I followed the link. :eek: Then I went on to your next post showing the roses and their scale next to a quarter. :eek: :eek:

You sir have a gift. Okay, you have several gifts! It's great to see them being put to such good use. And thank you for sharing the process of making your artwork.

[Jameel Abraham]

Dennis, Thanks for the compliments. Oh yeah, thanks for your website tutorial on wiring your Cyclone switch. I just used this to hook up my new Clear Vue.

Thanks again Jim and Jim.

Bruce, I started woodworking with both grandfathers and my dad. They did basic stuff--from typical Iowa-shaped clocks and pig-shaped cutting boards, to finely scrollsawn furniture for our church. After high school I got serious about it (I wished I'd taken some shop classes in High School, but I didnt) and checked out basically every book on woodworking at the library. I learned the most from the Taunton volumes of FWW back issues. This was before the internet was really going, early 90's. My dad also knows a custom furniture/cabinetmaker that showed me a few things, but I'm mostly self-taught. I never thought about teaching, but if anyone is interested, I'd be glad to show them how I do things. Nothing special really.

Thanks Roy.

Wilbur, Yes, different makers use different size holes and even space them differently. I'm basing my instruments on a classic design, so I'm copying those dimensions. But there is always a little room for interpretation.

Bill, you're too much! Seriously, I dont think I have any special talent. I just try to think things out in my head first as much as possible, then have a go at it with some wood. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I didn't think a thread on how NOT to make these things would be of much interest! :D I think I've only discovered a couple things on my own. Most of this stuff is just adapted from articles or stuff I've learned from others. Just wait till you see some of the old ouds I'll post later. They are stunning and mind boggling.

[Jameel Abraham]

Oh yeah, more of the soundboard.

So the braces of a typical oud are called ladder bracing or traverse bracing since they go across the face basically at 90 degree angles.

The tricky part is fitting them into the bowl. All the braces get fit in their individual locations one by one and then glued to the back side of the soundboard. There usually about 8 braces or so.

58409

I mark the angle and curve from the bottom and use a mini bevel.

58413

Here is a little video of how I make the ends of the braces match the curve of the bowl perfectly. When I discovered this I almost freaked out! It saved me hours of work. I used to do this with files and rasps until I "got it right". I kinda felt stupid when I did, its so simple!

Brace fitting (http://khalafoud.com/images/personal/ribfitting.wmv)

Then after all the braces are glued onto the back of the soundboard, they are shaped in a slight convex curve.....

58410

.....and tapered to a knife edge to lighten them without sacrificing strength

58411

finally the soundboard is glued at each brace location, and onto the tail block and neck block areas. I used hot hide glue for easy disassembly in the future.

58412

[Jameel Abraham]

So after the soundboard is trimmed flush all around using a sharp plane and a fine sanding block.....

58416

...it is cut back from the edge with a marking gauge fitted with a double bevel knife (to cut in both push and pull configurations). For this short time, the sounboard is only attached at the brace end locations and the at the neck and tail end blocks

58417

Then one by one (here two different tiles are used, one of solid maple, and one made up of laminated walnut and maple veneers) the edge tiles are glued in place using a tweezer and a dot of glue. One oud usually takes me 6-8 hours just for this process. I usually also glue a single line of purfling veneer between the blocks and the soundboard before putting the tiles in.

58418

Here I've finished the bass side of the oud. And yes, the Tootsie rolls DO help the process. :D

58419

Here's a little video (http://khalafoud.com/images/personal/tiles.wmv) of how I do the tiles. Grab a tile with tweezers, dab on a little hide glue, press in place, hold for a few seconds (hide glue sucks it in, this is basically a rubbed joint), repeat.

[Jameel Abraham]

I hope you all arent getting bored with this thread. I realize it might be a little tedious. Gotta finish it up though....;)

Here is how I cheat and do "inlay" for the fingerboard. No routing involved. It's a really slick method I learned from some old marquetry manual.

First I tack glue, just in the corners, my background (fingerboard) material (morado) and the "inlay" material (bone). I set my scroll saw at an angle and cut the background out, in effect making a tapered "plug" of the background material.

58668

This takes some trial and error to get it just right. But once the angle is perfect, the background piece will slide forward and fit perfectly flush into the "inlay" material. Only light sanding or scraping will be necessary to level the final product. The fit is also quite forgiving, since any errors taper down towards the front. I get an almost 100% perfect fit around the edges since its tapered. There is no gap at all. You have to cut the same direction everytime otherwise the taper will end up the wrong direction.

58669

You can see here I've sawn the interior spaces of this swan design and pushed the background forward.

58667

Here is what that looks like from the front, but with the outer edge now cut as well. As I finish each section I glue it in with CA glue to keep the piece robust as I continue cutting. If I didnt do this, the piece would become more fragile as I continued to remove sections.

58671

The finished "inlay". I didnt even turn on my dremel or router or even get out a chisel or scribe. Done completely with the scroll saw.

58672

[Jameel Abraham]

Here is the fingerboard with more of the inlay. There are no gaps. Just carefully placed drill holes to place the blade. These are invisible at a normal viewing distance.

58680

[Bill Simmeth]

Hey! Nothing tedious at all. You're the one doing all the work. :)

[jonathan snyder]

Wow is all I can say. Jameel, you are one talented fellow. The inlay work is absolutely beautiful. Great thread keep the picture coming!

Jonathan

[Bruce Page]

"I hope you all arent getting bored with this thread. I realize it might be a little tedious. Gotta finish it up though....;) "

Are you kidding Jameel?

This is a 5-star thread!

Keep 'em coming!

[Jim Becker]

Bruce, it would be more than a five star thread, but the scale unfortunately tops out at five...

[Jim Dunn]

You could you restart the thread and give another 5 stars. Wouldn't that make it a 10star??:)

I am not getting bored with this thread in the least. Keep em comming.

[Eric Wong]

Awesome thread! You are extraordinarily talented!
And BTW, I also love "How Its Made".

[Jameel Abraham]

Thanks again everybody!

Well, it seems I've pretty-much come to the end of this episode.

Here are some pics of some finished instruments.

This is my first one. Built in 2002. Fine Woodworking put pics of this one on their gallery page recently. Walnut, Spruce, Ebony, Maple, Cherry.

59096

My second one. Finished in 2005. Almost a year in the making (weekends and some evenings) Walnut, maple, bone, rosewood.

59097

59098

59099

59100

So here is a video of the latter oud. This is not me playing, but an up and coming young oud player named Peter. He's been playing for about 3 years. This is an improvisational piece originally played by a famous Egyptian oud player from the 1950's. If anyone plays flamenco guitar or is familiar with Spanish music, I'm sure you will recognize some sequences here.

Oud Video (http://www.khalafoud.com/media/Peter_plays_khalafoud.wmv)

And for a better quality sound, here is an audio recording of the same instrument played by a professional oudist. This is also an improvisation.

Oud Audio (http://www.khalafoud.com/media/Afif_khalafoud.mp3)

[Bill Simmeth]

Jameel -- thanks, I've enjoyed this immensely.

[Bruce Page]

Jameel, thank you so much for putting this thread up. It has been enormously interesting to see what a true artisan can do!

[Glen Gunderson]

Jameel, this has been an amazing thread.

If I recall correctly, your question a few weeks ago asking how a sliding saw fits into a hobbyist's shop caused quite a stir when people thought you were criticizing Jim Becker for his purchase. I for one am glad everyone got past that and you decided to take the time to offer one of the most unique and informative threads I've ever seen on Sawmill Creek. I think you are one of the best examples I've seen of the adage that skills, not tools, make the craftsman.

Do you make any other musical instruments? I, and I'm sure everyone else, would love to see any more tutorials that you would care to offer.

-Glen

[Alan Greene]

Jameel, Thank you for taking the time to teach us all. The lessons have been varied, from patience to craftsmanship to ingenuity to name a few. I wish you well in all of your endeavors and hope that you post more in this vein in the future. Again, Thank You for sharing your talents with us.:)

[Jameel Abraham]

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate the oppurtunity to be a part here. I was out of town for a few days and couldn't get back to this thread.

I promised some pictures of old ouds, so here they are.

This is an oud made by arguably the best maker of known history. The Stradivarius of ouds, so-to-speak. His name was Abdo Nahat. Born in the mid-1800's, this oud was finished in 1917. Notice the beautiful inlay. I don't have color photos of the back of this instrument, but it is made of dark walnut, with beech or maple inlay, and bone inlay, and well as mother of pearl.

59759

Note the fine inlay of birds and vine, without filler of any kind. This is masterful work of the highest quality. Note also the complex geometric pattern flanking the vine pattern. Simply mind-blowing. This is most likely face grain wood (extremely difficult to make) and not made up of easier-to-produce slices from end-grain "logs". The lighter squares below are bone.

59760

The rose. Again, simply mind-blowing. Excecuted in bone-over-wood. The delicate cuts are incredible, some lines are extremely fine and fragile. The middle of the rose in Arabic is written "Abdo Nahat". The concentric rings list the Arabic names for every musical note on the fingeboard, as well as the names of all the major Arabic musical modes. The final ring are the Arabic numerals numbering each of the sections.

59761

[Jameel Abraham]

And one more, made by Toufiq Nahat, Abdo's nephew. 1927.

59763

59764

59765

59766

[george wilson]

Very interesting,Jameel. Your work is truly fantastic. I looked at all 7 pages!! For cutting lute roses,which were usually geometric knots cut right out of the spruce top,we used little chisels that I made of 1/8" square tool steel. They had a razor blade thin cutting end filed out of the square steel,about 1/4" long. It was so thin that you could glue on a paper pattern,and lay the lute top down on a pine workboard. Then,just punch right through the design,being careful to keep the chisel vertical. Much quicker than sawing,and if you sawed the spruce,with the hard and soft grains,the saw would not cut a straight line,anyway. Then,we'd undercut the interlaced elements,so it looked like they wound over and under each other. This was the old way they did it originally. Of course,that only worked in the soft spruce,certainly not in ivory or bone,or in harder woods. We used to make lutes in the instrument shop. I started making guitars in 1954,and lutes in 1964. I used a mould for some time,but we began to build them without moulds later. If the ribs were accurately shaped,the lute form would be generated as it was glued up.

I recall Pistachio wood was popular for ouds.

[Steven J Corpstein]

I am in awe of your talents. Your work is absolutely breath taking. I also just realized you and I live in the same city, well almost. I live in Marion but work in CR. Do you ever have showings of your work?

[Jameel Abraham]

Thanks George. Your words carry some real weight, given what you've accomplished. Your tool posts lately have been real fun for me.

Steven, thanks! I don't have showings since most of my work gets shipped out as soon as its done. I do have one of my ouds that's my personal instrument. You should stop by the next Corridoor Woodcrafter's meeting. I'm a member and usually make the meetings. Drop me a pm with your email address and I'll send you the latest newsletter. Our next meeting is just a couple weeks away.

[David DeCristoforo]

Oud at's some really nice woudwork! And no nails... it's all gloud! For anyone interested, there are some great clips of oud playing on YouTube...

[Bill Wyko]

Exquisite and humbling. I just have to say thank you for introducing us, not only to your work but to the inspiration you create. If you don't mind, I'd like to use your inlay design on a humidor. I'm truly in awe.:)

[Colin Giersberg]

Jameel, thanks for posting "How It's Made". I don't believe you should ever need any "how to" advice from any of us. I do believe you have it perfected.

A humbled sometime sawdust maker,
with regards, Colin

[Chris Padilla]

Thanks for taking the time to share your process with us. I know it takes A LOT more time to set up to take pics along the way and then to resize them, upload, and explain them in post after post but as you can see, we are all very appreciative of your efforts. Very impressive, very educational!

[Brent Ring]

Exquisite Work! -The instructional techniques are amazing and very useful. MORE MORE MORE!:)

[Jameel Abraham]

Thanks guys. I haven't been "luthing" much this year. But I did build two last year that kind of wiped me out. One was over the top, one was simple. Here are some pics.

[Jameel Abraham]

Some more pics...

[Bill Wyko]

Any chance of this getting a sticky in woodworking projects? I find myself coming back over and over. This is truly an inspiration. I only wish I could hear one played. Can I buy one?:D

[Charles Shenk]

Jameel, Your are inspirational. I think I need to resume my Martin style OM-28 guitar project.

I have one question, do you build your instruments "speculatively" or are they all "pre-ordered?"

[David DeCristoforo]

"I only wish I could hear one played.... "

Look on YouTube. There are lots of clips of these instruments being played....

[Bill Wyko]

I just had to bring this to the top again incase you missed this incredible thread.

[richard poitras]

Bump to the top for a revisit ..
Richard

[Michael Stanley]

Bump to the top for a revisit ..
Richard

Thanks, I somehow missed this form last year. I've wanted to build instruments for a long time. This is about to push me over the edge of that slippery slope!

[Glen Butler]

Thanks for bringing this to the top. At first I was trying to figure out how I missed it, then I remembered its 2010. Absolutely amazing work, Jameel.

[Dave MacArthur]

Wow. Absolutely amazing, and a fantastic sharing of knowledge too. Thank you again!

[Eddie Darby]

Nice post!

Did you make the tuning pegs or are they manufactured by someone else?

I ask because I need ti make some pegs for a fiddle.

Thanks

[Khalid Nazim]

I am breathless, dumbfounded, awed and in a state of utter amazement at this level of work, the effort put into making something and then on top of it sharing the making techniques with others. I was lucky enough that someone at the engraver's forum asked a question and the reply had a link to this post. I read it from the first page to the last in the last couple of hours. This is truly inspirational work.

Jameel, Shukran for sharing your amazing work here.

Regards
Khalid