Jameel
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Binding tool improvement
I decided to make a new binding cutter based on Robert Lundberg's design. But it came time this afternoon to cut the binding ledge for Mike's oud and I didn't have a chunk of brass anywhere in the shop. I was rooting around for materials and came across my little Dubro EZ trimmer
that I used for my very first oud. It occured to me that it is very similar to Lundberg's tool, save a decent surface for registering off the face of
the oud, instead of the edge, which changes angle around the perimeter. Using a regular marking gauge to do this is possible (I used it for oud #2)
but not fun, since it registers off the bowl. I added a chunk of blackwood to the Dubro, replacing the wedge-shaped piece on the original. Works
pretty well now, and the heft from the blackwood is a welcome addition. Brass would be ideal, but for now this is working very nicely.
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jdowning
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That is a neat little tool and easy to make from scratch in wood or other materials. Due to the length of the guide, it can only be used on ouds or
lutes so one modification that would allow its use on flat topped instruments like guitars or vihuelas that have an in-curving waist would be to
modify the tool to have a curved guide so that there is point contact opposite the cutter and also to make the bearing surface on the soundboard a
little deeper for better control.
For instruments with arched tops and in-curved waists such as violins the traditional violin purfling cutter would still be required - which is more
difficult to control.
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oudmaker
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Jameel
I like to see some part of the face -regardless how thin it may be- left on the edge. Bindings function is to protect the edges of the face not for
edges of the sides. Oldtimers use to tell that a thin face wood line under the binding usually shows how healty is the oud and how skillfull is your
oudmaker.
Dincer
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SamirCanada
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Dincer the best sounding oud i ever played has exactly that binding around the edge but on top of about 1mm of face material left under it.
question: what tool would you use to remove the edge material? and how would it be done?
thank you.
now question for Jameel,
do you first trace the line with this tool and remove the rest with a chisel? or do you just go ahead and remove it with the tool itself?
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jdowning
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Just to illustrate Dincer's observations, here is an example of the style of binding that he is referring to. There is still sufficient remaining of
this old decrepit soundboard to show the binding cut to half the thickness of the soundboard at the shoulder near the neck block. At the bottom of the
soundboard - in the area of the bar below the bridge - the binding is cut to almost the full depth of the soundboard so that it is difficult to tell
if there is any material under the binding without removing the soundboard and looking underneath.
In this case the soundboard thickness is about 1.5 mm.
Interesting that cutting the banding to about half the thickness of the soundboard is a feature of many 17th C lutes.
Do we know when 'full depth' banding was introduced on the oud - is this a relatively modern feature - or have either full or half depth banding been
used since time immemorial?
The banding introduces a deliberate weakness around the edge of the soundboard which must influence soundboard response. Are there any examples of old
ouds without banding (as there are with early lutes)?
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oudmaker
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Samir
I use chisells.
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Jameel
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Dincer,
Thanks for the information. I always thought that cutting away the soundboard here is a weak spot. But perhaps it affects the sound too. I'm not sure.
A friend who has a Karybian told me about his bevelled "ramp" rabbet technique. I always though this was a very slick way of doing this, and have
always wanted to try. But cutting that "ramp" would be tricky to do. I wonder how Karybian did it accurately? Robert Lundberg has a couple specialized
tools that he uses for cutting this "half-binding" as he calls it. But his is just flat, 90 degrees. Perhaps in the future I'll give this a try. It
would be an interesting experiment on an Arabic oud.
Samir,
I use the tool a little to establish the rabbet, taking a light cut in a couple passes, then using a thin and light paring chisel I pare away some of
the edge so the cutter can go deeper. I repeat this perhaps twice, then when getting very close to the full thickness of the top I take lighter cuts
so the cutter cuts very gently through the top, I don't want any force or cracking to occur, and I definitely dont want to cut into the top of the
braces, so go slow and use the chisel to pare away as much as you can before breaking through.
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