Detail of the rosette

In style of Pietro Railich,  XVII^th Century

The glue used for all joints of the stringed instruments is traditional hide or bone glue made from converted collagen. Although it is a very strong glue, able to hold wooden parts together with great force, the joints must be perfect particularly for the lute which is made in ribbed sections. Hide glue is not an adhesive that fills gaps, so the plane iron has to be honed to a razor sharp edge and the rib joints planed with great precision.

The open string length for the lute shown is 600mm and it has 13 ribs (lutes can have any odd number of ribs between 13 and 33).

Construction details