> Is there an easy and simple method to measure or calculate this > surface? (I'm not talking about some hard computer program or complex > mathematical formula ...we're lute makers after all ...)
you might try placing the soundboard on a sheet of graph paper, photograph it and count the revealed squares. Might help if half the squares were colored like a checkerboard. Pretty sure yuo wont get a good trace working thru the lace pattern with a pencil point as the suondboard is thick compared to the width of the openings. Might get a decent rub on graph paper which could then be square counted to give an estimate. While photoshop has a reputation for being hard, the features I was mentioning are not particularly difficult. I suspect photoshop elements would suffice, tho I used this technique long before it existed. -- Dana Emery To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
