I'm trying to get some experience of instrument making by experimenting with old home-made instruments (that I cobbled together years go). I'm working at quite a primitive level and I'm just looking for very basic advice.
I've just taken the back off an instrument. I'd put the bars on with white glue and the back itself on with hide glue. The back came off pretty cleanly- with a knife, an iron and a wet cloth. I can't have glued the bars very well because they came off the when I took the back off. Anyway, the back has sort of flexed - each side is curving up slightly. I've got weights on it but I really don't think it's going to go flat. Exactly the same thing happened with another instrument when I took the back off, even with bars on. Any idea why this is happening? My ignorance of all things connected to instrument making and woodwork is unbounded so I won't be miffed if some rather obvious thing needs pointing out. And secondly, can I retrieve this flexed back - or should I just have a go at making another? Thanks for any help. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
