@ Lady Bay, SA
I have been making gadgets as I go – and as the need arises.
The small wood clamps are designed to apply gentle pressure without damaging the ribs. I will use them when I glue the endliner and endclasp along the top edge of the shell….more about that anon.
As for the wood scraper: I can now apply forward energy through the palms of the hands, rather than via the thumbs and fingers.
The lute shell is free of the mould, and almost ready for fitting out….
Firstly, however, I must tidy up the rib joints from the inside – especially at the broad (curved) end, in preparation for the endliner. This provides reinforcement across the weakest point of the construction.
You can see that the tape is still attached; it will remain until the endliner and endclasp are successfully installed. Since I work in a Boatshed, I am also inclined to fit heavy thwarts, quarter-knees and sawn frames – but I have an idea that lute Devotees would not approve….
Mid-afternoon – winter light….
Yesterday Sam and I strolled to the estuary, as we do every week, to inspect the river mouth and sand-dunes and everything in between.
On the way back we turned to admire the land and seascape stretching away northwards. A silvery light was slanting across the hills behind Normanville – and beyond that, across the hills east of Carrickalinga, where we used to have our patch of earth with the little wooden cottage and workshop.
I think my (unpaid) photographer has done a good job in capturing the scene with his trusty phone camera.
The body of the lute is now ‘watertight’, and I can set about about lifting it off the template, or mould.
First, however, I will clean the outer surface of the ribs. I am instructed to keep the reinforcing tape in place until the end-liner and end-clasp are installed at the broad end (or stern, as I think of it).
To remove the lute body (shell) I must extract the two screws that hold the neck block to the template from the inside. Of course, the ribs are already glued to the neck block, so the whole thing should come away easily enough.
If it doesn’t, then I will certainly have something to think about.
Sufficient unto the day etc….
I am fitting and installing rib number five on the treble side.
There are eleven ribs in all. Two to go: number six bass and number six treble.
And beyond that, unexplored territory….
Destined for the Paddock.
There are two additions: Pink Gum (E. fasciculosa), and South Australian Blue Gum (E. leucoxylon).
The collection of dune-care seedlings includes Ficinia nodosa (previously Isolepsis), which has a charming common name: Knobby Club Rush – and the shrub of intoxicating scent, Olearia axillaris, otherwise known as Coastal Daisy Bush, or Wild Rosemary.
These little plants have acquired the potency of totems: companions of our youthful days – the long days of summer – as we explored the adjacent dunes, or set sail for distant lands just across the Bay….
Woodblock prints by Tomioka Tessai (1836 – 1924)
From the Autumn and Winter groups: Four Seasons of Flowers 1907
An under-coat unites the patchwork…or, if you prefer, covers it up.
Shearwater looks to be as solid and stable – and heavy – as ever.
Next, and possibly most difficult task of all: moving our little ship out of the Boatshed. The remaining work will be completed in the open, as autumn weather allows.
Two small works by Mark Pearse, 2014: acrylic on board.
The dunes, the shack, Yankalilla Hill.
At that stage the Boatshed was merely a castle in the air: without foundation.
