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jdowning
Oud Junkie
Posts: 3485
Registered: 8-2-2006
Location: Ontario, Canada
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If you are using hot hide glue (and assuming that you previously used hide glue to glue the bridge) there are a few important points to note.
- remove all of the old (weak) glue from the joint faces.
- the joint faces must be smooth and a perfect fit - hide glue is not gap filling and the joint faces must not be roughened as they might be if you
were using epoxy cement.
- use freshly made glue - reheated old glue loses strength. The glue granules should be just covered with water (in a small glass jar) and allowed to
stand overnight to absorb the water.
- heat the glue container (glass jar) on a water bath (a saucepan filled with water heated on a kitchen stove. Place a piece of cloth underneath the
glue container to insulate it from direct contact with the bottom of the pan).
- glue temperature must not exceed 140°F (60°C) - use a thermometer to maintain water bath temperature to around say 150°F. Overheated glue loses
strength.
- judge the proper glue consistency - it should run off the glue brush in a steady stream. Add a little water if necessary but do not over dilute the
glue or it will be weakened.
- temporarily mark the front and back edge positions of the bridge on the sound board with masking tape and with pencil alignment marks on the masking
tape. This will enable exact positioning of the bridge when working quickly with the glue.
- work in a warm room, heat the bridge joint face, quickly brush on the glue and immediately position the bridge on the sound board.
- hold the bridge in place with finger pressure for a few minutes until the glue gels (there should be some glue 'squeeze out' all around the
bridge).
- then remove the masking tape and clean up any glue 'squeeze out' while the glue is still in a 'rubbery' state.
- allow the glue to dry for 24 hours in a warm environment. As the glue dries it will shrink and pull the joint faces even more tightly together.
Check the total string tension you are using . For five double courses with single treble, renaissance G tuning (A440) with octave tuning of the
bottom three courses, total string tension should be around 320 Newtons (or 33 Kg) for modern nylon stringing (Pyramid). Tension of each string should
increase from about 28 Newtons (2.9 Kg) for the bass strings to about 33 (3.4 Kg) and 35 Newtons (3.6 Kg) respectively for the top two treble courses.
Good luck.
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antekboodzik
Oud Junkie
Posts: 109
Registered: 5-24-2010
Location: north poland
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Dear jdowning, I followed carefully your advice with regluing the brigde, and everything seems to be fine so far. Of course, I used hide glue ("bone"
glue called here, in opposition to so called "skin" glue) for all structural joints in my instrument.
Also, I made anothers, yet better pegs, now in cherry-tree. I found another, spiral and bigger reamer, unfortunately with 1:50 taper, but good enough.
Then I managed to prepare very simple peg shaper, and set it to a slightly more (?) taper, I think something about 1:45. Now my pegs aren't pretty,
but work much better (only two of them are a little to stiff to turn), and tuning of my lute became easy and quick job. However, I have some more
issues:
- there are available some compounds for pegs in bowed instruments - there are something like "soap" for pegs for have them operate easier, and
something like a lipstick for pegs, which should be used when pegs don't hold strings securely,
- am I correct with that?
- I found somewhere that usage of these compounds is a common way to make the pegs turn well - is it true?
And for the end I fitted new frets. I began with rounding fingerboard edges more than previously. Then I picked very carefully some old nylon guitar
strings with dimensions from 1 mm to 0.60 mm and 0.05 mm step. I found somewhere an idea to sand them before tieing. Also, I used a drop of CA glue to
temporairly hold the knot before securing it by burning ends... But now they are perfect, playing is comfortable and there is no buzzing anywhere 
Later I am planning to put some top frets, and fine tune the nut.
[file]26539[/file] [file]26541[/file] [file]26543[/file] [file]26545[/file] [file]26547[/file]
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antekboodzik
Oud Junkie
Posts: 109
Registered: 5-24-2010
Location: north poland
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Some more photos, forgive me 
Sound examples soon, as I would learn something interesting on it.
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jdowning
Oud Junkie
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Location: Ontario, Canada
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Nicely done antekboodzik.
Your peg reamers are probably engineering taper pin reamers with a standard 1:48 taper.
You will find that your pegs as they wear will 'push through' the pegbox faster than a peg with a 1:30 or steeper taper.
As you have probably found already - using a straight bladed engineers reamer to cut wood - will result in 'chatter' of the tool, an uneven 'bumpy'
hole and a less than perfect fit of the peg. To avoid the problem of 'chatter' instrument peg reamers are usually solid on one half with only three
straight cutting edges on the opposite side - or with spiral cutters (which cut evenly and faster).
Pegs should fit slightly 'tighter' at the peg head end. Avoid a tighter fit at the 'tail end' of a peg as this can cause peg breakage (due to twisting
of the peg shank) if the peg 'binds' at that location.
If the pegs are perfectly fitted there should be no need of 'peg dope' unless at a later date there is some uneven wearing of a peg. Do a forum search
for 'peg dope' to see what other members recommend. A touch of bone dry soap (to provide more slip) or blackboard chalk (to provide less slip) - or
both in combination as judged necessary - would seem to be as effective as any commercial preparation.
Gut is best for frets and will result in less string wear but is more expensive than monofilament nylon which is harder and so will result in faster
string wear. Gut frets are easier to tie than nylon.
Hide glue is considered to be stronger than bone glue (but much depends on preparation and application). Bone glue is often sold as 'hide' glue so the
only way to be sure is to purchase the glue from a reputable dealer who sell both varieties and knows the difference.
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antekboodzik
Oud Junkie
Posts: 109
Registered: 5-24-2010
Location: north poland
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My lute works. Here is a small sample of the sound of my lute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMmIyEKM0bg
That's all I can play on the lute by now... I hasn't developed desired special right hand technique yet. Also there are some minor issues with holding
the instrument (a strap pin and a strap needed!!!) and with tuning, but I shall manage them soon. Well, just now I might say that I meet the challenge
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jdowning
Oud Junkie
Posts: 3485
Registered: 8-2-2006
Location: Ontario, Canada
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Congratulations!
.... and let's hear more of the compositions of those great Polish lutenists of the Renaissance.
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