Soheil - 1-22-2016 at 06:04 AM
Kerfing (or lining) provides a gluing surface for the joining of the tops, and sides of guitar , I wonder if any one try kerfing for tonewood and bowl
of oud
- I think that this will give more strength for the bowl
- I wonder if this will effect the quality of the oud sound
bulerias1981 - 1-22-2016 at 07:11 AM
I would not use guitar kerfing because it's too big. I glue a thin strip of maybe 2-2.5mm around the edge of the bowl. Depending on the thickness of
the ribs, this should be sufficient enough for a gluing surface for the soundboard. It should also be thin enough not to impact the tone in a negative
way.
Hibari-San - 1-22-2016 at 07:16 AM
Hi Soheil,
I'm just in the beginning of oud building journey, but what I found out in this forum and other sources is the following.
First and for most, keep it as traditional as u can and try not to mix in elements of other instruments "anatomy" especially if you collected
experience with construction of other instruments. Oud is Oud and Guitar is Guitar 
The second big thing I learned is to build the oud with barely enough material and reinforcement that it just holds together if stringed up. Like
flamenco guitars. I tended to install elements for additional strength on my first two ouds, but these weren't really necessary and the oud's became
very stiff, not so respondant.
At least I love to experiment, too. Maybe u should give it a try and see what comes out ! 
Good luck & welcome !
Soheil - 1-22-2016 at 02:08 PM
Thanks for your response and comment,
I will try to use a thin strip and see what happens
Soheil - 1-22-2016 at 09:26 PM
Thanks for your response and comment,
I will try to use a thin strip and see what happens
Dr. Oud - 1-26-2016 at 09:49 AM
It has been my experience repairing ouds since 1970 that the best sounding ouds are very fragile, with the soundboard just "floating" on the braces
and not touching the ribs at all. The edge is closed by the edging whether a continuous band or laminated sections. Any additional structure added to
make the oud more robust will restrict the sound, making it sound more like a guitar. Both tone quality and sustain will be affected. A comparison
with flamenco vs classic guitars is somewhat similar. The flamenco sound is "snarfy" somewhat hollow, loud and edgy, while the classic guitar is
mellow and less volume. This is due to the flamenco's structure which is thinner and lighter than a classic guitar. I have restored many ouds repaired
by guitar technicians, that have lost the sound of the original oud by adding guitar structural features. After removing the extra bracing or whatever
they added, the sound can be restored. The structure of the oud is the result of thousands of years of experimentation, (archeological evidence of
stringed instruments goes back 2,500 years). I believe the formula has been well proven by now. Your time is better spent developing the building
skill rather than trying to re-invent the design.