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Oud Junkie
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Rosette inlays completed (UPDATED)
I managed to get the inlay rings around the large and small rosettes completed. I went with two different designs for the large and small rosettes to
create a contrast. The large rosette inlays are inspired by some Nahat rosette inlays and it involved very intricate and delicate work.
After a couple of trials in some scrap mdf to make sure all the pieces line up perfectly and no gaps are there, the inlay was transferred to the
soundboard. I glued it used hide glue and cleaned and sanded the top. The original pieces were made a bit thicker than the depth of the routed channel
and stood proud.
The two pieces of the soundboard were joined using a very simple setup. A shooting board and a plane were used to prepare the edges for joining and to
make sure no gaps were there. After that the two pieces were glued together using hide glue and clamped together with bar clamps with a weight on top
to prevent cupping. The soundboard was then sanded to 2.4mm, a channel that is 1.6mm deep was routed. The soundboard will be sanded down to its final
thickness of 1.6mm in two steps. Down to 1.7mm, and then to 1.6. The final 0.1 mm will be for the final finishing.
The circular channels were cut using a circle cutting jig shown below. It is similar to the one shown in the video below and I think it is a must
have. With the help of a caliper, I can control the circle diameters up to a 1/1000". Here is a link to the youtube video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oRqUK-CMIo
The one in the video is made for a router and I had to make modifications to fit my Dremel like tool ( a black and decker RTX).
In order to thread the dremel to the base, the dremel uses a non standard thread, I think it is 3/4-12 and the tap for this thread is not common and
quite expensive. My solution was in casting my own part that matches the thread perfectly. I made a silicone mold using household RTV silicone, I
filled the Dremel nose nut with silicone and once it dried I used that as part of my mold. The final product fit the dremel perfectly. Having made the
mold out of wood, the surface is not very smooth and it doesn't look great, but it works and fits perfect. The material used was a 3/4" thick piece of
plexiglass that I obtained for free from a shop nearby. The jig also functions as a dremel router base that I can used for routing using the dremel.
The inlays came out to be quite well, its my first every inlay job and I couldn't be happier with the end result.
Here are some pics (those were taken using my laptop camera). It will be a couple of months before I get my Camera back, it s currently on vacation
overseas 
Ibrahim...
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Oud Junkie
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Here are some more pictures. Unlike the inlays around the small rosettes where one can easily control the thickness of the white pieces so as to get a
perfect match between the the pieces and completing the circle without overlapping. The inlay around the large rosette requires very fine tuning to
make sure that when you close the circle you don't run into small pieces or large gaps. This can also be challenging as you don't have an exact idea
of how much more spacing the glue is going to introduce. The first part was resolved by precisely controlling the inside diameter and measuring the
gap between the first and last piece, then finely adjusting the diameter accordingly, here the Delta = pi*(change in diameter). The glue part was
addressed by placing the pieces tight together but not super tight and praying for good luck. I guess it worked out nicely in my case. In total, I
only had to cut the channel in scrap MDF twice.
The inlays around the small rosettes worked from the first time without any adjustments.
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Oud Junkie
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The next step is inlay the following piece into either the soundboard or the neck, I haven't decided yet which way I am going.
But I am not sure how to rout the cavities and have very precise and clean edges. Any suggestions and recommendations would be appreciated.
here is a pic of the new inlay piece. It is not yet glued together, its held by two pieces of clear packaging tape above and below it.
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Ararat66
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That's really very beautiful - I like the jig btw
Leon
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Oud Junkie
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Thanks Leon, the jig is a very useful piece, it was worth the effort and I am really happy about it. I think I can cut circles that are as small as
1/2" diameter and probably as large as 12". I can make them even bigger by using longer rails than the ones I have.
Ibrahim...
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SamirCanada
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Very clean work Ibrahim.
all the best with your project.
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Oud Junkie
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Thanks Samir, best of luck in your project as well.
Ibrahim...
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Oud Junkie
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More inlays added.
So, I decided to go with an additional inlay on the soundboard. It came out alright, there is a couple of tiny spots that I could have done a better
job. Anyway, we learn from our mistakes. One mistake was the alignment of one of the pieces came off as I glued the small pieces of one of the new
inlays together. The second one was that I routed one pocket slightly larger, the reason was that I scribed on the center of the pencil marks rather
than the inside edge.
Aside, I have also manage to complete the pegbox. I am going to ream the holes but not enough to fit the pegs. I think I will fit the pegs after
finishing the oud.
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SamirCanada
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nice inlays! did you make the strips yourself ?
Also, you are right about waiting until the instrument is finished to fit the pegs. Resist the temptation to do it before.
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Oud Junkie
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Samir, I did make the strips myself. I made strips that are 1.5"wide x 8"long that are layered from 0.6mmMaple Veneer / 0.6mmWalnut Veneer / 0.6mm
Maple Veneer / 1/16" Mahogany / 0.6mmMaple Veneer / 0.6mmWalnut Veneer / 0.6mm Maple Veneer. The veneer I bought from rockler and used it for various
purposes, the mahogany I bought from a local art store. I glued them together with hide glue which was kind of tricky but I made the glue kind of
runny (more water content) so it takes more time before it sets. I also used a blow drier to heat them up once I applied the glue and as I was
clamping them. I clamped the pieces between two pieces of plywood. There is going to be tendency for the pieces to slide away from alignment, to me
that was ok as long as it is not excessive (over 2mm on any side).
After that I planed the edges using my only plane (a 14" jack plane). Then, I cut them into thin strips about 2.5mm thin using my Bosch colt router
with a Dremel cutting wheel (1.5" in diameter). Here, the base of the colt acts as a table and support and the pieces are cut between the table and
the saw blade. I attached a small piece of plywood using double stick tape to the base as a fence. I taped my vacuum hose on the back side to collect
the dust and that was it. I will take pics of this setup and will post them soon.
The strips for the pegbox were made from 1/8" Maple and Walnut strips with additional layers of 0.6mm veneer of Maple and Walnut. I made a strip that
is about 1.5" wide and 15" long. I cut those strips into pieces across using a hand saw. Each piece was about 1/8"x 1.5". I then cut these into
smaller pieces using a hand saw. The walls of the pegbox are made out of two pieces of 1/8" maple and walnut that are laminated. I rabbeted the
pegbox edges using a 1/8" deep rabbeting bit and controlled the thickness of the cut to be exactly the width of the walnut piece. This is easy to do
with the Bosch colt as it has a micro adjustment knob.
I shall wait on fitting the pegs to the end, but I will ream the holes more to make my life easier later. Right now they are about 5mm in diameter.
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SamirCanada
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Very nice work. Thanks for the explanations.
Wow! I can't imagine doing those inlays without a block plane.
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