1. I recommend that you not bend the spacer lumber before cutting into strips. Slice it up into 3mm or so slices (sticks) and then run it through the Luthiers Friend until thin enough. Don't be afraid of it but do keep a firm grip on the stick. Also, do not hesitate as you feed it through or you will have a thin spot. Also make sure to arrange the stick so that the most advantageous grain is available for bending.
2. Bend the thinned sticks on your iron. If you have not already, cut a 4mm deep slot on the edge of the iron to allow the sticks to be fed through and be heated all over. 3. You can dampen the sticks at the greatest point of bending to make it steam and bend a bit easier. Ebony is just...well, ebony and hard to work. Rob Dorsey http://LuteCraft.com -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 1:36 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [LUTE-BUILDER] Fillets (?) between ribs Does anyone have a good method of planing or smoothing the edges of thin ebony strips to go between ribs? I've bent wider pieces of ebony to the right shape and sliced off thin strips with a band saw. As I cut each piece I could hand plane the cut edge on what was left, but as a result one edge of each fillet (I don't know what to call them) is rough. I'm thinking of trying my Luthier's Friend, but I don't know if it will just grab the piece and mangle it. Bending the ebony was tough (it needed a LOT more heat than the maple I'm using for the bowl), so I don't want to go through all of that and have the strips ruined at the last step. Thanks, Tim Motz To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
