Hello, I thought I would let everyone know that there is a site that can help everyone with their lute questions. It is a site for the oud. If you have never heard of the oud/ud/aoud/middle eastern guitar/etc., it is the grandfather of the lute. Go to www.mikesoud.com and take a look. There is ,also, an older site which does not require sign up, www.kairarecords.com. Both sites can be very informative to lute makers since the two instruments share similar structures and construction. I recall reading that soaking MOP in vinegar will allow it to bend too. Andy
Alexander Batov <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: I never believed myself that MOP can be bent although I remember to have read in one of 19th century craftsman's hand books that MOP can be soaked in vinegar and then bent ... but I never tried this though. Could that be a joke!? Perhaps as you've suggested the best way would be to cut the piece from thick enough chunk of MOP. I remember seeing a really unique exhibition of carvings in MOP and some of the subjects were an inch or more deep! I even asked the craftsman where he gets the MOP shells from but I don't remember now (it was some 15 years ago). Alexander ----- Original Message ----- From: "van Geest Gitaar & Luitbouw" To: Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 7:31 AM Subject: [LUTE-BUILDER] Re: bending mother of pearl etc > > Dear Christopher, > > MOP cant be bend. You can only do that with bone (and maybe ivory). If you > bend MOP it will break. So the trick is to get a thick enough piece of MOP > and inlay it in the open spot. Glue it and file it down to the fingerboard > afterwards. > > Yours, > > Ernstjan To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --------------------------------- It's here! Your new message! Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar. --
