A bit of progress on the lute

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 9:43 pm

Got a few hours in the shop today so rough shaped the neck. I popped into Ottos here in Adelaide last week and managed to find some limewood of the right dimensions for the neck (Thanks to all of you who offered assistance in my search for neck stock).

The neck blank gets temporarily fitted to the neck block with a wood screw to allow marking up of the blank for shaping. Once the neck gets glued on the screw aids in clamping the joint together while glue sets.

Tigermyrtle · Post by **Tigermyrtle** » Sat Oct 17, 2009 9:58 pm

Will not be long now Martin, and you will be entertaining everyone with your lute.
Cheers Bob

Allen · Post by **Allen** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 7:01 am

The inside of the shell looks terrific. Have you got the seam re-inforcemts installed in the body yet? Silk I think is what Dave White used?

sebastiaan56 · Post by **sebastiaan56** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 7:40 am

Allen wrote:The inside of the shell looks terrific. Have you got the seam re-inforcemts installed in the body yet? Silk I think is what Dave White used?

I thought it was supposed to be parchment from superceded medieval philosophy books

matthew · Post by **matthew** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 4:47 pm

looking great Martin - is it really going to end up just a butt joint??

BTW where do you buy your cam clamps??

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 4:49 pm

Havent got around to gluing in the rib reinforcement. Silk is one option ...parchment paper is the other. Silk is the easiest option but Im still working out how to explain to the wife about the shredded nightie.

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Sun Oct 18, 2009 4:53 pm

matthew wrote:looking great Martin - is it really going to end up just a butt joint??

BTW where do you buy your cam clamps??

Hi Matthew,

Hows it going in the world of bass?

Yes the neck to body joint is a butt joint...hide glue with a dirty big 60mm x 10G screw to hold things together while the glue sets. Not much tension to deal with with gut strings so no need for a fancy joint.

The cam clamps...they're all from Stewmac. I have a bunch of huge cammies brought from Timbercon but theyre Chinese made and quality is pretty average. If I wasnt in the job Im in and had more "spare" time Id have a go at making my own cam clamps.

Cheers Martin

Dave White · Post by **Dave White** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 4:02 am

Martin,

That's looking really good. Is limewood in Australia like here in Blighty - Tillia sp. (or basswood as the other Colonials call it)? Looks nice stuff anyway.

On mine when the glue had dried I drilled two holes through the neckblock into the neck and glued dowels in (I was following Obi Wan's instructions). Although the strings are nylgut or gut there are 15+ of them so there is a reasonable tension there. I reasoned that a little extra "insurance" doesn't go amiss even if it may not be necessary - it's not easy to do after the top is on

Clamping the joint was "interesting" by the way

Dominic · Post by **Dominic** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 7:24 am

Looking good Martin.

Would it be historically acceptable to use a wooden dowel in place of the screw in the finished neck joint? Would give that end grain glue joint some sheer resistance if it was knocked.

I'm with Allen, love the look of the inside of the shell.
Your gonna have to learn how to play thing soon.
Cheers
Do

kiwigeo · Post by **kiwigeo** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 8:49 pm

Dave, Im seriously considering whacking in a couple of dowel reinforcements through the neck block/neck. Thak=nks for getting me thinking on that one.

Dom, Ill keep the screw as it functions to help clamp the neckblock/neck joint together while the glue is setting. Getting conventional clamps to work in this joint would be very difficult given the angled nature of the joint.

Cheers Martin

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A bit of progress on the lute

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