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jdowning
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Thanks Yaron! There is some way to go yet before it can be confirmed that the old sound board is viable for restoration to playing condition as
planned.
At present the sound board - after moistening the underside uniformly by covering with a slightly damp cloth - has been clamped to a flat surface
where it will remain for about a week to dry out slowly. This procedure is necessary in order to prevent the unbraced sound board curling due to
shrinkage of any glue residues that remain after cleanup. If this is successful then it will be possible to check the fit of the sound board to the
bowl that hopefully has not distorted significantly over the years.
In the meantime work can continue on the bowl which has its own set of issues.
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jdowning
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The maker"s label glued inside the bowl shows that the oud was made by apprentice luthier Hosain Muhi AlDeen Helmy according to Arabic speaking
members of the forum.I posted a low resolution image of the label some years ago on the forum but here is a much clearer image.
I cannot read Arabic but was wondering about the meaning of the writing in the extreme bottom left hand corner of the label? Is it a number or a date
or the maker's initials perhaps?
An update on the full translation of the label - given the clearer image - would be welcome.
Thanks
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jdowning
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The damaged areas and missing parts of the sound board will be repaired with Eastern White Cedar - a wood of similar density and hardness to the
original which may also be a type of Cedar (Cedar of Lebanon perhaps - but hard to know for sure).
I have an abundant supply of Eastern White Cedar - grown on my own property. It has a pleasant aromatic smell and is resistant to rot and insect
attack. Several pieces have been cut on a bandsaw to provide more than enough selection of material to allow close matching of wood grain with the
original. The colour of E.W. Cedar varies from creamy white to pale brown - but will darken over time to match the original wood.
One of the half braces (located on either side of the sound hole) is missing so a blank for a replacement has been cut to closely match the
longitudinal and cross section grain direction of the surviving original. The brace will be finally cut to shape after it has been glued to the sound
board.
Note the notch that fits over the rosette - confirmation that the braces were originally fitted after the rosette had been glued in place and before
the sound board had been glued to the bowl.
The original braces with split ends have been repaired by running hot hide glue into the splits with a thin artists spatula. Inexpensive small spring
clamps are used to hold the splits together until the glue has cured.
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jdowning
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The sound board is in a fragile state so must first be 'stabilised' to facilitate safe handling by gluing over the many small cracks with paper
strips. This repair work is to be done progressively - crack by crack - clamping each repair to maintain sound board flatness as the hot hide glue
cures (and shrinks).
The paper used to reinforce the cracks is a hand made 'laid' paper manufactured in 1803 according to the watermark.
Starting with the largest of the repairs - the area covering the fingerboard inlay, which in this case also includes two cracks starting at the sound
board edge. This patch replaces the original paper reinforcement under the fingerboard extension inlay.
After application of the hot hide glue and correct placement of the paper patch the glue was reheated with a hot iron after covering the patch with a
piece of heat proof 'oven paper' (readily available from grocery stores). The re-liquified glue was then pressed into the cracks and crevices with
finger pressure and the repaired area clamped flat and allowed to dry and cure for a couple of days.
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jdowning
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The badly damaged ends of some of the braces must be repaired by cutting away the damage and splicing in new wood.
After cutting away the damage with a razor saw, the splice joint surfaces are cut by pulling the brace over an inverted plane held in a vice. Due to
the small surface area of the splice joint this procedure ensures joint accuracy and perfect fit. The repair wood is similarly treated so that the
grain patterns of the wood are in alignment.
The pieces of repair wood are glued in place with hot hide glue of high Bloom strength - strong glue that starts to gel within a few seconds. After
application of the glue, the joint is held together under finger pressure until the glue gels after which time the spring clamps are applied. This way
the joint surfaces will not slide apart under clamping pressure.
The repair wood has been cut well oversize so the excess wood will be planed off after 24 hours when the glue has fully cured.
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jdowning
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With the glue dry the spliced wood patches at the ends of the braces have been planed to size. Excess material was first removed with a chisel and the
patches were then planed flat on an inverted jointer plane moving the work over the plane blade for precise cuts.
The repaired ends have been left with a little extra material to allow a precise joint when refitting the sound board. Small chips of wood missing
from the sides of the brace ends will not be repaired.
Before the braces were removed from the sound board reference marks were made on each brace and sound board surface. These marks and the original
brace location marks made in pencil by luthier Hosain Muhi AlDeen Helmy will enable the braces to be re-glued in their original position on the sound
board.
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Alfaraby
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Quote: Originally posted by jdowning  | | I .. was wondering about the meaning of the writing in the extreme bottom left hand corner of the label? Is it a number or a date or the maker's
initials perhaps ? |
I came across this thread again. So here's the full text of the Arabic label:
The School of Decorative Professions
Work of
Hosein Mohyeddine Helmy
Department of
Musical Instruments Carpentry
Third Year
And in the left corner it says Mabrouk ! :
Congratulations 
Seems it was the final project of a 3rd year student !
Worth restoration per se ? Maybe for the fun and learning some new techniques.
Yours indeed
Alfaraby
alfarabymusic@gmail.com
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jdowning
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Thanks for that additional information Jamil - presumably the apprentice was congratulating himself on his efforts! The rest of the label remains
consistent over several past translations but several questions remain unanswered :
- when was the oud made (best guess early 20th C ?).
- where is (or was) the 'School of Decorative Professions' located. Cairo perhaps? - where I purchased the oud in 1963.
The oud had been well used prior to 1963 and subject to maintenance repairs over time - again suggesting an early 20th C construction date (or earlier
even).
Also there are a number of apparently unusual features concerning the construction such as the use of a toothing plane leaving a 'rough' finish to the
interior of the bowl and sound board woods as well as the unusual design of the rosette (that may not have Arabic origins?) - not to mention the
geometry!
Although the student may have gone on to a more lucrative career than oud making - so never achieved a niche as a recognised oud maker - the oud is
still worth the time and effort involved in restoration (I am doing the work so there is no cost) not only because of the age of the oud, its unusual
features and the questions outstanding but because the oud is a tangible momento of my brief time spent working in Egypt albeit at a difficult period
for the "grass roots" Egyptian people (post Suez crisis) who, nevertheless, were always impressively kind, polite and considerate towards me. I will
always remember, as a lesson in life, one labourer on the job site - who must have earned less than 50 piastres (i.e. half an Egyptian pound) a day,
no doubt with a wife and family to support - offering to share his basic lunch with me out of a fundamental sense of courtesy towards strangers.
The project is currently on low priority but will eventually be completed as there is not too much work outstanding
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jdowning
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I also have to wonder who was the (master?) oud maker employed to teach Hosein M. Helmy and other students how to make an oud at the "Dept. of Musical
Instruments, Carpentry"? Did he - whoever he was - and not the apprentice, sign the label with 'congratulations' immediately prior to the oud being
'closed up' with the installation of the sound board?
More unanswered questions unfortunately.
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