Dear Garry, Did you come to any conclusions about the possibility of luthiers using Spelk-like planes to run off lute ribs quickly and cheaply? The thread seemed to get diverted onto something else.
Many years ago I read somewhere that, if you bought a new guitar (I forget where), they'd give you a free mandoline to go with it. This would (I guess) be some time in the early part of the 20th century. I'm afraid I can't remember any more details. It strikes me, that if shops could afford to give away a free mandoline with every guitar, either the guitars were overpriced to accommodate the free offer, or mandolines were very cheap. If they were cheap, they must have been made in huge quantities, efficiently, quickly, and at very little cost. I understand very little about the making of instruments, so I would be interested to know if any makers on the List have any further thoughts about your Spelk plane hypothesis. It seemed a neat idea. Best wishes, Stewart McCoy. > And in that vein, 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 To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
