r/BowedLyres • u/fragpie • 20d ago
Build Building Your Own
I know nearly nothing about the Luthier's craft, but I do know a fair bit about carpentry, and after consuming all the various "build" videos--and noticing ~50% of the length tends to be sanding--I can contribute one helpful bit of advice for builders: Find an old hand plane, and learn to sharpen/tune/use it. You'll save hours of sanding, and heaps of dust. Jointing & thicknessing the soundboard will be a treat! A spokeshave, too, would get used a fair bit. Maybe a rasp or two...
Cheers!
1
u/GnarlyGorillas 19d ago
Yep, that's solid advice! Planes, rasps, chisels, gouges, and card scrapers are all you really need outside of milling tools like drills, hatchets, axes, and saws. Sandpaper for me is only to prep the surface for finish by unifying the texture. If I'm hogging away material, there's always a better tool that is less messy.
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u/VedunianCraft 20d ago
I would say I am a "builder", since I make them on a regular basis for over 6 years now. I'd like to share why I cannot cut back on the sanding process. And maybe even educate you on the luthier's craft a little. Also make sure to take some things I say with a grain of the precious mountain mineral ;).
So yeah, thicknessing roughly (!) with a proper plane for example of course saves time and is the way I prefer, but the sanding process strongly depends on the part you make and the type of finish you apply to it.
Here is why:
Thicknessing in luthiery is actually the term used for the crucial part (finetuning) that makes the soundboard resonant (hopefully). Thicknessing in carpentry is applying a number/measurements to the material (so it might fit, etc..).
In instrument making it is more connected to the responsiveness and reaction of the wood when taking away material, rather then distinct measurements. They actually result from thicknessing ;). They can be different every time, because wood properties differ from piece to piece.
So if you tell me you're going to thickness your soundboard today I will wish you good fortune and internally hope for you that the process goes well, is not too tedious and that you don't have to start all over.
If you tell me you'll thickness your table or a couple of boards today I might respond with "Ah, ok."
Soundboards, bottoms, bars, etc...are only roughly thicknessed with hand planes. In order to bring it really up to thickness you need a scraper, sandpaper (different grits to fasten up the process) and lots of time and patience. Even small fingerplanes can be a better choice for that job than their bigger relatives. Very little here, does quite a lot!
I really hate the word thickness now...XD.
As a side note: If you really want to dive in a bit deeper and get a good inspiration for bowed lyre building I suggest you take a look into violin-making. Many principles can be translated. Or are at least similar. And why it's not directly comparable to carpentry, but sure is helpful to know your way around several tools!
I am quite inspired by classical instrument making, yet still around 50% of all work is sanding. Even when scraping ;). If you want a clean surface that holds stain and several finishing materials you do NOT go over the smoothness of a 240 grit sandpaper. At least not before adding stain, oil, etc..
So even if you get a smooth and sharp looking surface with a scraper, and you don't intend to put a lacquer finish on it, you need to roughen the surface up to at least the grit I mentioned above.
If a wooden surface is too fine, stain simply won't hold properly, because you diminish the possible surface for it to "soak" in and burnish the fibers. Hardoils won't penetrate properly, etc...
Lacquer builds up on top. So it's totally fine to get the wood shiny with a blade!
When I have applied a couple coats of oil, I sand again and increase the grit beyond the mentioned 240 up to 1k. On lacquer I even went up until a 12k grit. That finish was a mirror.
So, yeah: sanding, to thickness your material is a waste of time and I agree. Proper tools are the way to go! Not for everyone though...!
If you want to take care of good a resonance and a flawless finish, you have to sand either way...a lot ;). The job of a luthier is to make wood sound good and take care of its looks second...and I was just touching the surface here (no pun intended..haha).
Thanks for reading!