Hi Lutenetters, I am in the middle of turning pegs for a new lute and I've started having problems with them coming out of the shaver off-center, meaning that the shaft isn't centered on the head. Obviously, the shaft is wandering as I'm turning the peg in the shaver. This didn't happen with the kingwood pegs I made for my present lute, and it doesn't happen with some Indian rosewood pegs I bought to use on a lute I'm building for a friend.
The wood I am using for my lute is mountain ash (Pyrus Aucuparia, not related to the more common ash, which is Fraxinus species). According to Robert Lundberg's book, it is a wood used for pegs in the Renaissance. My neighbor had her mountain ash pruned over a year ago, so I got some wood to split and dry. It is a lovely wood to turn, with a pale golden color and a nice, even, and mostly straight grain. It is softer than rosewood, however; more like walnut in texture and hardness. Have any of you had this happen? Is the type of wood a factor? Am I trying to take off too much wood in the shaver? Tim To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
