12 hole tie block repair

Costs are rising and times are tough.
Please consider a donation to keep this
place going.

Welcome to one of the most active flamenco sites on the Internet. Guests can read most posts but if you want to participate click here to register.

This site is dedicated to the memory of Paco de Lucía, Ron Mitchell, Guy Williams, Linda Elvira, Philip John Lee, Craig Eros, Ben Woods, David Serva and Tom Blackshear who went ahead of us.

We receive 12,200 visitors a month from 200 countries and 1.7 million page impressions a year. To advertise on this site please contact us.

You are logged in as Guest

Users viewing this topic: none

Printable Version

All Forums >>Discussions >>Lutherie >>

Page: [1]

Message

<< Newer Topic Older Topic >>

Andrew

Posts: 34
Joined: Dec. 25 2008

12 hole tie block repair

Hi,

I'm repairing a 12 hole tie block were there was not enough wood between the string holes and over time the strings have distorted some of the holes leaving sharp edges which causes string breakage. I'm thinking of cutting out the wood where the bone strips normally are and putting back a piece of bone that i will redrill the string holes thru.

Can anybody see any problems with having the string holes running thru bone?

Thanks,

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 6 2012 21:14:57

Anders Eliasson

Posts: 5780
Joined: Oct. 18 2006

RE: 12 hole tie block repair (in reply to Andrew)

Its difficult to see the problem without a photo. Theoretically, I cant see a problem with strings running through bone.
Maybe another solution would be shaving 1mm of the string block and laminating a 2mm piece of hardwood to that, thus having a string block which is 1mm higher. This should give you some more space for working.

_____________________________

Blog: http://news-from-the-workshop.blogspot.com/

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 6 2012 22:00:12

Andrew

Posts: 34
Joined: Dec. 25 2008

RE: 12 hole tie block repair (in reply to Anders Eliasson)

I've already cut away the outside part of the tieblock but the inside is still there so I've taken a photo so you can see what's happening. There is several problems here;

1) ebony strips used instead of bone
2) string hole pairs too close together
3) tie block could be a bit meater all round
4) this indian rosewood might be a bit soft

I've done some research and found that Smallman uses bone the full depth of the tie block to reduce string hole wear. A lot of his bridges are made of paduak, so it's probably not a bad idea. Here's a couple of shots of a Smallman bridge;

Wether I use bone or timber I've got to find a good way to drill the holes and get good alignment with original holes, any suggestions?