Right you lot are in serious trouble

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Tue May 26, 2009 12:08 pm

I thought of that Allen but unfortutanely van Andrews supplies a composite drawing of ribs with alll ribs contained on same drawing. Id have to make 10 copies to make it work.

Anyway I made up a set of accurate cardboard templates and have made up most of the ribs....they seem to fit on the base alot better. Today Ill fine tune fit and start gluing up.

sebastiaan56 · Post by **sebastiaan56** » Tue May 26, 2009 1:26 pm

kiwigeo wrote:Six months from now I'M going to be the cool looking nerd with my foot against the lampost playing a lute.

as long as you dont sing like Sting.....

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Tue May 26, 2009 6:56 pm

Yeah his renditions of Dowland arent that good. I reckon I could do better.

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Tue May 26, 2009 9:22 pm

Okay I managed to get the mould fabricated today.....didnt follow the tutorial word for word and there are ways one could make the process a bit easier.

Tomorrow I start shaping the tops of the ribs.

Bob Connor · Post by **Bob Connor** » Tue May 26, 2009 10:13 pm

Looks like you're trying to build an armadillo Martin.

You should consult with Ron Wisdom. Now there's a bloke who knows a thing or two about armadillos.

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Tue May 26, 2009 11:38 pm

That ain't no freak'in armadillo Bob, that there is a trojan sheep. He warned us lot to watch out and now he's plan'in to invade! Are you North Korean by any chance Martin?

Bob Connor · Post by **Bob Connor** » Wed May 27, 2009 12:02 am

I've just had a worse thought.

He might be planning to build an Ovation.

Dave White · Post by **Dave White** » Wed May 27, 2009 1:59 am

Martin,

That's looking good - certainly more sturdy than my "dunny seat". I don't know how you are going to use the form to support the ribs while glueing, but one thing I learned is that when you are at a point on the sides where the curve is changing, the facets are angled and not at ninety degrees to the side to side supports (a bit like an angled peghead). The obvious place is at the back of the lute (tail end) where your three pieces go down in steps compared with the central front to back spline of your mould which is the rib shape. As they appear in your first picture the ribs will be held too high at the tail - I don't know if you carved/sanded their profile later. The same is true of the neck block support. Also remember to cover the form with something to stop the ribs being glued to it rather than to each other.

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Wed May 27, 2009 8:33 am

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. The mold isnt finished yet...theres quite an involved process of shaping the top of the ribs using a steel ruler and cardboard strip.....ending up with a smooth profile for each rib. Before gluing up ribs the top surface of the ribs are waxed. I note your use of brown binding tape on your mold.

Cheers Martin

Allen · Post by **Allen** » Wed May 27, 2009 4:46 pm

Looking at that mold reminds me of the mold I had to build for a cedar strip canoe I made years ago now.

The strips of cedar were machined with a cove and bead set of matched router bits. This allowed them to roll around the form and still have a tight joint with all the those compound bends. Those strips were 1/4" thick though. It would be interesting to figure out if a similar thing could be done with such a small scale?

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Wed May 27, 2009 6:11 pm

Okay not a good day today....started out ok with a leisurely breakfast at loacl cafe but at 11.45 it was root canal time. I managed to make a bad situation worse by asking my female dentist when her baby was due.....she wasnt preganant (makes mental note never to ask a dentist about to start a root canal if shes preganant).

Anyway got home and got back to work on the "Armadillo". van Andrews instructs to use a chisel to shape the ribs but I found it both quicker and easier using a block plane, dragon rasp and a sanding stick.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Wed May 27, 2009 6:55 pm

Niiiice, looking forward to following this build Martin. There's something special about lutes, I guess it's the skills needed to make one and you know they were all hand made so it's easy to appreciate the craftsmanship.
Doesn't look like an Armadillo at all tho, looks more like a giant weta's shell to me

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Wed May 27, 2009 8:14 pm

Just had to replace rib L3....wasnt quite matching the line on the base. All fixed and I think its ready to go.

One thing thats not explained clearly in the tute notes is that the ribs only make contact with the mould ribs at the points of intersection between adjacent flat spots on same.

Kim · Post by **Kim** » Wed May 27, 2009 9:34 pm

Nice work Martin, you must be enjoying ur'self because the mold looks very good.......still reckon it looks like a Trojan sheep though.

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Wed May 27, 2009 9:54 pm

Mmmmmm might as well start looking for a costume to go with this lute. Wonder where I might find some Elizabethan breeches and a huge cod piece??

Stu · Post by **Stu** » Wed May 27, 2009 9:57 pm

Looks like it's not for the faint -hearted.
Credit goes to you for going for it and knowing it'll be a very long
but fruitful journey.

I'd like to see you attempt to smuggle that onto the rigs, Martin !!!!

cheers, Stu

Allen · Post by **Allen** » Thu May 28, 2009 5:30 am

kiwigeo wrote:Mmmmmm might as well start looking for a costume to go with this lute. Wonder where I might find some Elizabethan breeches and a huge cod piece??

I bet they'd look good with a set of backless chaps.

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Thu May 28, 2009 5:31 am

kiwigeo wrote:Mmmmmm might as well start looking for a costume to go with this lute. Wonder where I might find some Elizabethan breeches and a huge cod piece??

Take the Mahogany spacer out and cut the centre of your base out and there's your huge codpiece.A dual purpose mold

pat foster · Post by **pat foster** » Thu May 28, 2009 7:04 am

kiwigeo wrote:Okay not a good day today....started out ok with a leisurely breakfast at loacl cafe but at 11.45 it was root canal time. I managed to make a bad situation worse by asking my female dentist when her baby was due.....she wasnt preganant <snip>

I did the same at the start of my haircut. She did a great job, bless her. I tipped her well.

Looks great Martin. Ever build boats?

Pat

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Sat May 30, 2009 10:49 pm

Worked on the neck block yesterday. There are a few choices as far as wood goes, I went for Honduras Mahogany as Ive got a bit of it lying around the shop and its a favourite wood. The block gets secured to the head end of the armadillo and gets carved to shape with chisels and rasps. The important thing is to acurately carry on the facets from the ribs through to the neckblock. It looks easy but it ain't.

Working with the 25mm Stubai.....my favourite bench chisel.

Working with the dragon rasp...one of the most used tools in my workshop.

The end result.

John Steele · Post by **John Steele** » Sun May 31, 2009 12:15 am

Kim wrote:Nice work Martin, you must be enjoying ur'self because the mold looks very good.......still reckon it looks like a Trojan sheep though.

I was thinking "wooden bike helmet".....
Looks like a great project going there, can't wait to see the final outcome.
And we get to watch!

sebastiaan56 · Post by **sebastiaan56** » Sun May 31, 2009 6:58 am

Wouldnt the air get cold in a codpiece that size?

Martin in a ruff, wig and lots of powder....

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Sun May 31, 2009 5:38 pm

sebastiaan56 wrote:Wouldnt the air get cold in a codpiece that size?

Martin in a ruff, wig and lots of powder....

Yep Im gonna give Elton John a run for his money. Gotta have a couple of beauty spots happening as well...not that I need them.

sebastiaan56 · Post by **sebastiaan56** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 3:24 pm

Have you finished it yet?

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 4:12 pm

**&&^^^ off.......Im actually about to re do the mould. It'll probablly do the job but Im not 100% happy with it.

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