Garry, While not impossible, it seems unlikely as such a plane causes considerable distortion and fracturing of the wood fibers.
Garry Bryan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Dear Lutenists, Is it possible that renaissance and baroque luthiers could have used the predecessor of the Spelk plane (it produces Spelk. Spelk is a thin strip of wood used by the Shakers to make baskets and chair seats) to produce the ribs for lutes? A Spelk plane would be able to cut strips of wood that are both wide enough and thick enough to be used. I would think that it would have been quicker and more cost effective to produce the rough ribs using this method than by cutting up a thin board into strips. Thoughts? Opinions? Garry --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page. www.yahoo.com -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html