Workshop Re-Organization

December has always been a slow month for me. So this year I decided to use the time productively and reorganize my workshop. This needs to be done every so often and I have been putting it off for some time. I have trouble throwing things away; tools that I may need for some obscure project and wood scraps that could come in handy have accumulated and I have run out of room. Many artisans experience this dilemma.

 I work in two rooms. One contains my machinery; bandsaws, jointer, thickness sander, drill-press, lathes, and a dust collector. The other room is my instrument building area. It contains my principal free standing workbench and several long counter-top type wall benches with storage underneath and all of my hand tools. I decided that I could make better use of the space if  I switched the two rooms. The problem is that there is no place to put everything while I am making the switch - except to pile it up.

Once I made some space in my former machine room I was able to move the machinery into its new location. I was able to move the jointer and drill press myself by putting rollers under them and wheeling them into place. But my bandsaw and thickness sander were too heavy and cumbersome so I hired a pair of movers.

 It was humorous. It took these guys ten minutes. I had removed the table from the bandsaw and unbolted it from its base. The largest guy looked at the bandsaw, rocked it gently on its stand gauging its weight and then putting it in a bear hug carried it into the new machine room. The sander was more problematic because it was a tight fit through the doorway. Once the new storage areas are finished I will be able to stash the boxes that are blocking the window and make progress on getting things organized.

Now that I have some space in my new assembly room (the jointer and dust collector were located against the vacant wall) I can patch the walls and paint. The vacant wall has been finished and in a few days I will build a wall bench with underneath storage. Yesterday I took down the tool racks from the wall on the right (the bandsaw was located here) and patched the rough spots. This morning I painted and this afternoon I'll start building the bench against the far wall. My principal bench will be located in the spot occupied by the cluttered table in the foreground. I hope to be finished soon.

 My New Year's Resolution is to have a great time building wonderful lutes and guitars. And to all of you - Best wishes for the Holidays!


The first image is taken from:  http://quod.lib.umich.edu/d/did/

Kaiser Theorbo- Making and Fitting the Extension-Continued

In my last post I was ready to shape the back of the extension. I lay out the line representing the slope on both sides of the  extension.

 I remove the bulk of the material with a bandsaw and finish with a rasp and file. The curve across the extension runs to from one end to the other so I use a block plane to rough out this surface. Once I am satisfied I scrape the curved surface with a flexible scraper to even out the contour and then finish with sandpaper wrapped over a contoured block. I then cut a length of veneer a little oversize and get all the glue up stuff ready: rubber mat, foam strip, gluing board, nearly a dozen clamps and some little contoured wedges. Here's what the glue up looks like.

I assemble all of this on the edge and at one end of my bench. I lay a rubber mat under the veneered face of the extension in order to protect it. Then the extension is put on top. I prebend the end of the veneer on the hot iron and secure it with painter's tape. I use fish glue to glue the veneer in place because it has a long set up time. This characteristic allow me to make changes if I don't get the alignment correct the first time -- which happens. It is a complicated procedure and it has to be done correctly. Once the veneer is in place I lay a strip of foam rubber -- the kind that is available from sporting goods stores to put under sleeping bags. The strip is cut roughly to the  dimensions of the extension. Next comes a piece of lumberyard pine that is cupped from improper drying. I have shaped this piece roughly to the size of the extension and it is laid on cup side down.  Then I apply the clamps insuring that all are equally tight. All of this insures that the veneer is firmly in contact with the curved surface of the extension.

At the neck end I insert six or seven contoured wedges that I have made specifically for this theorbo between the foam and pine board. These wedges push the foam against the veneer and insure good gluing contact. I leave this to dry. The excess is then trimmed. Veneer for the edges is applied in the same manner with suitable pieces of foam and strips of wood. But I don't glue the edges until I have completed the joint for the extension. You'll understand why after I describe making the joint.

Before I begin to form the joint between the neck and the extension I make a full size drawing of the string alignment of the theorbo as it is finished to this stage. This  is intended to show the angle of the fretted neck and the bridge and nut positions. From this I can lay out the line of the first diapason. In this case it is the eighth string. Since I don't want any of the diapasons to hang off the edge of the theorbo head I position the extension so that all of the diapasons fit within the width of the theorbo head that is 65mm wide.

Next I mark a long straight line on the edge of my workbench. This is the layout  line for insuring that the extension is aligned correctly. Then I position the lute upside down  and clamp it to the bench in such a way that the bridge hole for the eighth string and the point where it passes at the end of the fingerboard are correctly aligned to the line on the bench.

In the photo you can see the reference line drawn on a strip of masking tape applied to the bench. The theorbo is firmly clamped to the bench in the alignment that I described. At the far end of the extension I arranged a riser that elevates the extension the proper height. I align the extension left or right along the top surface of the riser to achieve the position that I want for the placement of the first diapason. The height of the riser represents the height of the theorbo head plus the height of the nut. Theorbo extensions bow up under string tension. The only effort I make  to counter-act this tendency is to build in an adjustment factor. I align the extension vertically so that the diapasons will sit on the fingerboard nut before they are tuned to pitch. Once at pitch for a few days I find it necessary to lower the theorbo head nut. I start with a nut height of 25-27mm that is reduced to around 20mm by the time the theorbo is ready for delivery.

Now I can lay out the saw lines on the neck for the joint. This procedure is a combination of experience and guess work. I know how wide I want the extension to be at this point when it is finished (78mm) so I mark this slightly narrow to allow for cleaning up the sawed surface. The minimum gluing surface that I like, front to back, is 35-37mm. If it is a large theorbo like this one I will finish with a surface that is 40mm front to rear. This is because the distance from the nut to the first fret is large enough to allow a comfortable space for the left hand thumb to sit between the end of the extension and the first fret.

 Here's the roughed out joint and the rough fit.

     

The closer that I can come to laying out the joint correctly the less effort it will be to finish the joint, but there is always the danger of making the joint area larger than first intended so I am conservative when laying it out. I have also made the extension over wide. The excess will be trimmed off later. I finish the joint with files and purpose built contoured sanding blocks. When I think I have it right I remove the lute from bench and check the alignment. I have a simple method for holding the two parts together. I attach two strings to the bridge in the first and eighth bridge holes and then to pegs on each side of the extension. When tension is applied to the strings the extension will be drawn into the joint. Two spring clamps on each side of the neck will stabilize the joint vertically. I equalize the tension on each side by using the same diameter of string and 'tuning' them as I draw the joint together.

Once I am satisfied with the fit I trim the edges of the extension to fit inside the width of the joint allowing for the thickness of the edge veneer that I can now glue on (above photo). This will cover the peg holes but they can be punched out from inside the pegbox slot and re-drilled.

I use a template for laying out the theorbo head but depending on the size of the theorbo I will make the head a little larger or smaller to fit the over-all appearance and balance of the instrument by re-drawing it free-hand. I have traced around the template on a carefully prepared, square edged, block of poplar. I  drill the peg holes and cut the nut and string slots all while the block is square. Then I begin to contour the shape with a single band saw cut on the top surface and others on each side. The photo shows the head completed to this stage. Further contouring is done around the front and bottom front of the head with gouges and files. The head is then test fitted to the extension and glued when finished. I stain the natural colored poplar black to match the black veneer of the extension. After a final test fit of everything I glue the extension in the same manner as I described previously.


The next two photos are of historical theorbo heads. The profile view is of the Railich theorbo head in Bruseels. The other view is of the Alban theorbo head in Nuremberg.

The last photo is from one of my instruments.

This finishes my posts on the Kaiser theorbo. I have omitted several steps in its construction or have not elaborated as much as I might have. I am starting another Kaiser at the beginning of the year. I plan on covering elements of its construction that I missed this time as well as discussing its design features.

There are several other topics that I will relate. I started a Lacote guitar but put it aside while I finished the theorbo and awaited the delivery of a set of tuning machines from Italy. Those are scheduled to arrive in January so I will begin my post on the Lacote  construction soon. John Edwards and I repaired loose bars in his Kaiser theorbo following the advice of Thomas Mace using his treatise from 1676. I'll post that story. I am about to finish a Voboam guitar and although I started it before I began this blog and started documenting everything, I do have photos from various stages of its construction and plan to post those. During this last week, and the coming one as well, I have completely dismantled my workshop and am reorganizing it.

All photos are by the author.

Kaiser Theorbo- Making and Fitting the Extension

This is the extension of a Railich theorbo that I built last year. I chose these photos because the white edging makes the extension shows up well. It is veneered front and back with ebony and on the sides or 'cheeks' with walnut. It is long -- it measures 840mm between the fingerboard nut and the nut on the theorbo head.

At the joint to the neck the extension is 78m wide tapering to 30mm at the head end.

The thickness under the fingerboard nut is 22mm tapering to 18mm at the end. The theorbo head itself is another 30mm high without the nut. The top or face of the extension is flat while the back is arched from side to side. The cheeks are angled in from bottom to top.

All of this work removes wood which reduces weight. It also promotes an elegant appearance. You can see the pronounced curvature on the back of this Railich theorbo extension (MIM Brussels). This extension is unveneered solid wood that is stained/painted black.

Below are several photos of historical theorbo extensions. One is traditionally elegant while the other has its own beauty.

Matteo Sellas 1640, Musee de la musique, Paris. The curvature across the extension and the subtle slope in the line of the cheek is a style that I try to emulate. The weight of the ebony and ivory inlay is burdensome to the player. I can't image playing through a long rehearsal with this lute.





The photo on the right is of the Sebastian Schelle 1728,

German National Museum, Nuremberg.  The neck is veneered with ebony but the extension is stained black.  The finish has rubbed off in the area of contact with the player's thumb creating a beautiful patina.
The stain on necks such as these appear to have some 'body' or substance to them. I have the feeling that the finish is a mixture of pigment, oil and a little resin.  The theorbo head of the same instrument, which is a later addition, has a completely different look (below) that is probably pigment with just a little oil.

I use different styles of theorbo extensions depending on the model of theorbo.  German theorbos have a distinctive style and I make a close copy for those. Italian theorbos have a style that changes only in the details and I have developed several models. You can see the difference in the treatment in the area of the extension joint between the German and Italian instruments in two of the previous photos.




The extension for the Kaiser is a typical Italian design.  I always use a core wood of yellow poplar either painted or veneered. For this client I veneered all sides with black dyed pear. The theorbo head is poplar as well, stained black. Other times I cut my own veneer using ebony, walnut or, like on my Tecchler archlute, bloodwood. I start by preparing a poplar wood blank cut a little oversize in length and width but tapered to the correct thickness -- allowing for the veneer. I layout the peg holes and drill them. Then I prepare the veneer for the top surface and glue that on. Since the surface is flat there is no special setup. Then I rout out the cavity for the strings using a template and a small router (laminate trimer) with a flush mounted bearing.

The template is screwed in place. One screw hole will disappear under the neck joint and the other, upper left, is screwed into a scrap of wood temporarily glued to the side of the extension. I can clean up the cavity and cut the distinctive characteristics now or wait until I finish the head. Below are two photos; the Railich pegbox to the left and then the Schelle.

These two photos bring to mind a consideration that I haven't mentioned.  Clearly one theorbo is single strung throughout while the other is strung in courses on the fingerboard with single diapasons. There are few surviving single strung theorbos. Most of the theorbos that are built today are of models that  survive with double strung fingerboard courses and single diapasons. Few modern theorboists, however, want this arrangement and ask for single strung instruments regardless of the model. The Kaiser theorbo is double strung on 'board', as I say, with single diapasons, but I build it with single strings.

All photographs by the author.

Next time I'll shape the rear of the extension, glue on the veneer, make the head, figure out the alignment of the extension, cut the joint and finally glue it together.

              

                                                

Marx Unverdorben 16th Century Lute - Report on My Examination

This is a 16th century lute by Marx Unverdorben in the instrument collection of Harvard University. I became fascinated with him years ago when I saw an article in the Lute Society of America Journal that included one of his lutes. To me, he is somewhat mysterious . Little is recorded about his life and although there are nine surviving lutes by him few modern makers build models. I made two trips to Harvard to study this lute and I have just posted the result of my research on my website's project page. http://www.schreinerlutes.com/projects.html

Also you can see a story and detailed photos of a model of this lute that I recently finished on my website. http://www.schreinerlutes.com/PicPage4.html

My next post will be about constructing the extension for the Kaiser theorbo.

The Kaiser Theorbo - fingerboard and its points

The elegance and simplicity of the points at the end of the fingerboard belie the difficulty in constructing them. I always have to be very careful when designing and laying them out on the soundboard.  Good looking points enhance the appearance of the soundboard and poor ones are a distraction. These are the points that I cut for my Kaiser. They are not exact copies of the original. The length of the soundboard tongue and the proportional width of the points are accurate but the curve of the points is a little flatter in my version. I don't have a photo of the original but you can see the original by visiting the museum site. I'll explain how to navigate the site at the end of this post.

I'm sorry that the image isn't more distinct. In the photo I have fitted the bass side point and scored the outline of the second point. I begin by preparing a piece of ebony that is the thickness of the soundboard and the width that I want. It should be several centimeters over length. I cut and finish the point to a smooth contour. I under cut slightly the two edges that fit against the soundboard. This negates the width of the knife blade while making the cut. I tack glue or attach with double sided tape the point in the exact location on the soundboard. Then I score lightly along the two edges. After removing the point the score lines can be deepened until the soundboard is cut through. When the waste is removed the point should fit snuggly. If the fingerboard is curved the points should be curved as well. I glue them in place with thin glue and secure with elastic tape and a couple of wooden wedges as I demonstrated in my last post.

This example is from the Tieffenbrucker lute, E. 980.2.321 in Paris. I don't find the narrow, short point attractive although they are easier to make. Note that the points are wider than the fingerboard at the tied fret. This instrument was converted from an Italian theorbo with a long extension to a shorter German style swan neck lute. The neck was narrowed to accommodate a different style of playing.






CURVED FINGERBOARDS. I arch the fingerboards of all of my lutes that are 10 courses or more. Even though the original model may be flat. My clients appreciate the comfort this feature affords. I accomplish this by curving the neck core itself rather than adding a curved layer of wood to the top of the neck material. Arching the neck core does necessitate cutting into the top edge of the side ribs but the effect is that the strings lie closer to the plane of the top of the lute. On a lute with a single neck lute the edge strings will actually lie below the plane at the nut. This lessens the upward pull on the neck.

For wider fingerboards I always use multiple pieces of ebony for the following reasons. It is difficult and expensive to buy wider boards and I like to minimize the amount of sawing. The stuff is filthy. So I buy guitar fingerboards and cut those to the desired thickness. Then I glue the pieces to the curved neck core separately, starting with the center piece. The following photo shows my system for clamping them.

I cut pieces of used belt sander material in lengths that can be wrapped around the neck. I put a spring clamp on the free end and just at the edge of the piece of fingerboard that I am gluing and then a second clamp on the other side. I repeat this process the length of the fingerboard for each of the separate pieces.

You can visit the Musee de la musique website at: http://mediatheque.cite-musique.fr/masc/  Once on the museum page click on the caption of the right side of the page; INSTRUMENTS DE MUSIQUE, OEUVRES D'ART. On the next page click on INSTRUMENTS ET OEUVRES D'ART. This opens the catalogue page. Type E. 24 as the inventory number or enter Kaiser as the facture.  Once on this page you may enter any instrument you like  in the search and the museum's entire holdings are displayed.

In the next post I'll build the theorbo extension. 

Kaiser Theorbo - Fitting and Gluing the Bridge and Belly

Today I am going to describe the techniques that I use for fitting the belly to the bowl, gluing the bridge on the belly and then finally, the belly to the bowl.

You will remember that in a previous post I paid a lot of attention  to fitting the temporary belly. This accuracy comes in handy again when I fit the top to the bowl. Before I glued the bars in place I drew the outline of the bowl on the underside of the belly. This line is clearly visible in the photo and it is the reference for fitting the belly to the bowl. After I have shaped the bars (in my previous post) I trim the bar ends so they terminate inside the reference line an amount equal to the thickness of the edge rib. If I have done the trimming correctly the belly will slide into place on the bowl with a slight amount of friction. The reference line will be visible just beyond the edge of the bowl. 

I won't describe the making of the bridge now. I will be starting another Kaiser this winter and I will describe those techniques at that time.

In this photo I have laid out the bridge position with painter's tape, a square and a center line drawn on the same tape. I found that it was difficult to balance clamps on the narrow top of the bridge so I make an insert that fits on the rear platform of the bridge. The top surface of the insert is level with the top of the bridge so the clamps have a wider surface to sit on.

The metal clamps are resting on the block part of the bridge while I use cam clamps with rubber pads on the bridge wings. I use just enough pressure to insure good contact between surfaces. Under the bridge area I fit wood cauls between the various bars. This assembly can then sit on the edge of my bench and the clamps can span the distance from the bridge top to under side of the bench top.

Once the bridge is glued I place the belly on the lute and using a length of sewing thread tied to the bridge like the first string I make sure that it aligns accurately with the edge of the fingerboard and that the height of the string at the neck joint is what I anticipated. Now I can glue the belly. I mark the location of each bar so when I start to apply the tape I secure those areas first. I apply a coat of thin hot hide glue to the edge of the bowl, the ends of the bars and the underside edge of the belly. Then, working quickly, I apply the tape over the entire edge of the lute, pulling the tape taunt and carefully pressing it in place.

Securely gluing the tongue area of the belly was a problem so I developed this technique that has worked well for me. I wrap elastic tape tightly over the upper part of the belly and under and around the neck. Then I insert opposing wooden wedges. This action presses down on the belly resulting in  good gluing contact.







John Edwards, theorboist and co-founder of Musicians in Ordinary dropped off his 1998 Kaiser theorbo this afternoon. It has a problem with loose braces. Sue, my wife, looking over my shoulder as I wrote this post commented on the jarring nature of the green tape. I agree, but it does the job. On the other hand, I am reminded of the technique described by Thomas Mace in Musik's Monument published in 1676 for repairing his lute belly that involves just what I have done here and what needs to be done to John's lute but using seventeenth century techniques and materials. Since I have to repair John's lute why not follow Mace's advice and really be a 17th century lute maker. It will take me about two weeks to get to this. I'll report on it here.

Harmonic Barring for the Kaiser Theorbo

Many lutes that I examine are intact so unless a drawing has been made of the the interior, perhaps during a restoration, I must find other means to discover what the barring is like. Such was the case when I examined the Kaiser theorbo in Paris. No drawing was available but I knew from visiting the lute on the museum's website that there were several long, wide cracks in the belly that were wide enough to see several bar locations. When I had the theorbo in front of me I could clearly determine the location of all of the major bars. Since I had prepared paper probes that I could slip through the cracks I was able to measure their size.

Although I do not have a photo of the inside of the Kaiser soundboard I do have this photo of a large triple rose lute belly by Magno Tieffenbrucker that is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This lute and the Kaiser are similar in length, width and position of the triple rose so the layout of the bars is similar.

But the position of the bars is only one of my concerns. Even if I copy the bar locations of original lute - which I don't necessarily do - I am concerned about the quality of wood that I use. This, I think, is one of the most important elements in instrument construction. I cut up blemished soundboards from my stock which works fine for smaller lutes and guitars but some of my larger theorbos need bars that are thicker than the normal thickness of stock belly wood. To solve this dilemma I buy cello tops. This allows me to cut whatever size of bar I need. An additional advantage is that from instrument to instrument I am assured of uniformity in density and strength of my bar wood.

The photo on the right shows some of the bars already glued in place and others still under the clamps. I start by gluing the small  rose bars. One of them is visible just to the right of the clamps in the center of the belly. The side that is visible through the rose is stained black. I usually place four of these bars under each rose. Three larger bars that span the width of the belly are placed through the centers of the pair of large roses, one bar through the center of the small rose and a third bar across the area in between. Note that I clamp the bars in five locations across their width. My bellies are thinnest in the center at each bar location along the belly's length and it is necessary to press each bar firmly into this slight depression. I glue the bars in groups that are the same height so I can minimize the number of clamps.  I adjust the height of individual bars in the next step.

Although I vary the basic bar layout from one Kaiser to the next very little I will alter their size. This is not because one soundboard may be stiffer than another but because each of my clients attack the theorbo a little differently. One may like a little stiffer instrument, another one a more compliant instrument. I accommodate these differences by adjusting the bar sizes. In this photo I am rounding the top of the two harmonic bars. Once this is done for all of the bars I will cut the slope at their ends. Historical lutes show different treatments of the bar ends in height and angle.

This photo shows the ends of bars from the Epp theorbo (formerly attributed to Hoss) in the collection of Harvard University. They are left high but are cut at an angle that prevents the full height of the bar from contacting the inside of the rib. This frees the edge and results in a very resonate but less powerful instrument. I prefer to balance the resonate / power by leaving the bar ends from 5  to 7 mm high and in full contact with the inside of the rib. This is an example of one of the methods that I use to personalize my instruments for my clients' playing style.

In my next post I will fit the top to the bowl, make the bridge, glue it on the belly, tune the J bar and the small finger bars that support the bridge area and then glue the belly to the bowl.


All photographs by the author.

Tools and Techniques for Carving Lute Roses

The collection of items in the photo is all of the tools that I needed to cut the theorbo triple rose. At the top is a bottle of mucilage that I use to glue the rose pattern into the belly wood. Mucilage is a glue usually associated with children's crafts. Since I cut the pattern from the front I need to remove the remaining paper of the pattern so I want a glue that is easy to remove. Which it is. Next is a well used block of paraffin for lubricating the knives. The circle cutter is used for scoring the borders of the roses as I described in previous posts. Of the two knives that I used the first is an X-acto with a #11 blade. The second is a small violin maker's knife. Two sizes of small gouges came in handy for scoring the outline of the tighter curves of the organic elements of the design. I do use small chisels (not shown) for some roses but they were not useful for this design. I do use a small magnifying glass. I do all of my carving on a self healing mat.

I want to demonstrate several features of my carving technique so I made an enlargement of the rose pattern - one that would show up better in a photo - and glued it to a scrape piece of soundboard spruce. Using the violin maker's knife I score all of the lines on the pattern, firmly and precisely as possible.  In the photo at the left I am using the violin maker's knife because it has a thicker blade that is easier to control. If I  deviate from the pattern I balance the mistake by maintaining the proper width when I cut the opposing line.  Although I have reduced the soundboard thickness to 1.1 - 1.2 mm in the rose area it usually isn't possible to cut completely through the belly in one stroke. The elements of the design, especially the ones that align across the grain of the wood , are weak and easily broken. To prevent this I cut a "relief" to the line. That is what I am doing in the photo. You can see a bit of the paper pattern and wood curl up. This is accomplished by holding the knife at a 30-40 degrees angle while making a cut parallel to the original perpendicular one. The adjacent area has already been "relieved". 

Here I am making my final cuts. I am using the X-acto #11 because it has a thinner blade and is less likely to push the wood apart, fracturing the fragile rose pieces. I seldom use the #11 for the initial cuts because the blades are too flexible and are harder to control.

The direction of these cuts is important. Although it is not clearly visible, the grain of the soundboard runs from side to side in the photo. All of the cuts run across the grain at varying angles. To prevent the end of the exposed grain from grabbing the knife and throwing it off course I cut "down" grain or with the "nap". You can feel this effect by making similar cuts diagonally in each direction on a piece of spruce. A key to understanding the problem is to note that the direction of the cuts on opposite sides of the center element between the two marked areas are opposite. It is a good idea not to remove a waste area until the adjacent areas are completely cut. Making the final cut on one side of an element that is not supported on the opposite side can lead to breakage. Note: Lubricate your knife frequently with paraffin.

The border of each rose has a ring of diagonal blocks that are chip carved on their corners. I lay out the spacing for these with a template that I made specially for each rose.

 It is made with a protractor on a piece of poster stock. The circle of the rose border is marked off in five degree intervals and an area corresponding to the border is cut out. This template is positioned exactly over the rose border and taped in place. Now a knife cut can be made diagonally from one line to the next. The result is 72 equally spaced diagonal blocks. Two opposing edges of each block are now chipped off to create the final effect.



 I have finished the theorbo so obviously it is quicker to build them than to blog about them. My next post will explain my system for barring the soundboard.

 My theorbo's new home is the Music Department of Grand Valley State University in Michigan.

Carving Lute Roses - a Triple Rose

I often decide to use a rose design other than the one that appears on the original of the model that I am building. This is the third Kaiser theorbo that I have built in the last 12 months and for this one I decided to borrow the triple rose that is cut into the belly of a theorbo by Pietro Railich. On the right is the original 17th century Railich rose. I examined this lute several years ago and wrote a story about this lute for my website. You can see it at:  

http://www.schreinerlutes.com/projects.html

This is a fairly open design that would look too simple if it were reproduced in a larger format, such as a single rose on the face of a lute, but here the appearance is lacy and elegant because of its small size. The diameter of each of the larger pair of roses only measure 68 mm. The smaller, single rose is 61 mm.  The design is composed of two smaller concentric circles inside the larger diameter of the entire design. A series of repeating arcs based on the division of the whole into sixteen parts fills out the design.  The leaf and bud motif gives it an organic touch.

I drew the design about 50% larger than size that I would need in order gauge the thickness of the individual elements. Then I reduced copies of it to the size that I needed on a photocopier.

Once I had the rose pattern finished I still wasn't ready to begin carving. Triple roses are usually laid out so that the decorative surrounding rings inter-connect. This takes some careful calculation and adjustment of the compass. You can appreciate the exactness that is necessary in the closeup photo of my finished rose. Note too, that there is no marks in the center of the roses from the compass point. Many surviving historical lutes show thee blemishes. I wanted to avoid them. The center photo demonstrates my technique.

The trammel point of the circle cutter rests in a tiny hole that I drilled into, but not through, a small scrape of ebony that I "tack" glued to the soundboard. This way I was able to draw the inter-locking decorative circles with a compass first to make sure that everything lined up. Then I was able to confidently score them with the circle cutter. The ebony blocks, after serving their purpose, are removed by touching them with a hot iron for a few seconds. This melts and releases the glue.

The last photo shows that I am well under way. I have finished scoring the interlocking rings, glued the small rose pattern in place and done some rose carving. Next time I'll talk about the tools, explain some carving techniques and talk about the ever present problems and pitfalls.