Dear Bill,
Never used the material for ribs and the like, but a few random
thoughts come to mind:
There are, of course, many types of mahogany and not all are classed as
'true' mahogany so we must be careful about over-generalising but
having said that, compared to maple/sycamore it seems to me generally
more fibrous but oddly less resistant to splitting especially in thin
sections like lute ribs (even where carefully quarter sawn). I think
this may be a feature of its cell tube size and construction (altho'
oak which also has large pores/tubes seems very durable and split
resistant - but also not used for ribs). It does take glue well, but I
wonder if its porous nature weakens a rib joint where the size of the
pores are significant compared to the rib thickness?...
I have an early 19th century guitar with sides (roughly about 1.5mm)
made out of mahogany and the sides have split into many long slivers -
ie lengthwise with the grain - so much so that I can't be bothered
repairing it!
regards
Martyn
--- On Wed, 2/5/12, William Samson <willsam...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
From: William Samson <willsam...@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: [LUTE-BUILDER] Why no mahogany?
To: "lute-buil...@cs.dartmouth.edu" <lute-buil...@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Date: Wednesday, 2 May, 2012, 19:09
Dear Collective Wisdom,
I see that mahogany is never recommended as a lute building material
(except perhaps for neck blocks). I wonder why this should be? Are
there no surviving old lutes that used it? I do know that the
Jacquemart-Andree vihuela is now believed to have dark mahogany
pieces
in its 'jigsaw' ribs. Cuban mahogany is not unusual in guitars.
Mahogany is stable, can be beautiful if it comes from the Carribean
or
Central America, is easy to work . . . So why isn't it being used
now
and again for lute ribs?
Just curious.
Bill Samson
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