Thank you, Martin.
I know perfectly well the distortion effect you are describing (both
from my own experience and old lutes) but the fluting that is caused by
paper lining re-enforcement of the joints doesn't quite appear so
consistent and pronounced as it looks on some of the paintings. Or
perhaps it's just my wishful thinking ...
Anyway, I wouldn't probably take this fluting idea so far if it wasn't
one particular painting where it appears just a bit too extreme as only
being caused solely by the linings. I believe the painting is attributed
to one of the painters from Bartolomeo Bettera / Evaristo Baschenis
circle. It's a bit late in the day but I try to upload it, perhaps
tomorrow, so that you can have a look. The quality of the reproduction
in the book is not great and it's in black and white, nevertheless the
fluting is quite clear.
Well, it is of course possible that the nut is sunk in the middle under
the static string tension but that would be a rather big design fault
that I can't imagine they would allow, in the golden age of lute making.
Maybe we just expect too much from this painting.
Alexander
On 08/02/2011 22:20, Martin Shepherd wrote:
Hi Alexander,
Yes, the ribs here seem to stay fluted even as they go over the block,
but in general old lutes seem to have developed the fluting after they
were taken off the mould. I glue my paper linings in wet, and find
that when they shrink they tend to pull the ribs into a fluted shape,
which can be enhanced by choosing the grain direction of the rib in
the first place. Many old lutes seem to have been distorted in the
same way, because they show a sharp curve up towards the rib join and
a relatively flat middle of the rib (hard to explain in words but easy
to see).
No, I can't see any reason to slope the nut rebate either, but it
would work fine as shown in the painting, so I don't see any reason to
disbelieve it, and I think I have seen this in other paintings as well
- sorry I can't remember which ones.
What do you think the lump is inside the pegbox on the treble side? I
think there's one on the bass side as well, but it's less clear.
Best wishes,
Martin
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