carpenter
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making pegs
Here is a series of photos of a practice session turning pegs. I used rock maple, a Jet mini-lathe, a small spur drive, a ball bearing tail center,
and a Talon 4-jaw chuck; parting tool, 1/2" and 1/4" spindle gouges for cutting.
First I turned a cylinder from the initial square stock - no need for a perfect cylinder, just roughly establish the knob diameter. Then I cut a step
for the collar, and approximate-tapered the shaft. There's a gauge I used for the diameters, and should have included it here, but it shows up later.
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carpenter
Oud Junkie
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Left, a shop-made collet chuck. The hole is a matching taper to my reamer, the longitudinal saw cut lets the 4-jaw chuck squeeze the peg shaft in the
collet, the collar is a depth stop. Right, the peg held in the collet after smoothing the taper in the peg shaper. Ideally, the peg would insert
deeper into the collet to minimize the chatter.
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carpenter
Oud Junkie
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Left, shaping the knob profile. Right, detailing the collar. I was after an oud-shaped profile on the knob. I made a little cutter from 1/4" tool
steel, file and Dremel work, to cut the profile of the collar. I used it on some hurdy-gurdy pegs, but the shape's a little fancy for this
application, I think; also the maple chipped a tiny bit, as it's scraping here, not cutting.
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carpenter
Oud Junkie
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Left, drilling a 1/8" hole for the end pip. I prefer to turn them right on the knob, but this practice blank was a little short. I'll carve a little
dowel to match, glue it in, and finish shaping. Right, bandsawing the knob flats. The knob is clamped to a sliding fixture; lots of variations on
angle and depth of cut possible, all affecting the finished look of the knob. Again, previously used for hurdy-gurdy pegs. I'll make a new one for the
finished oud pegs, but this'll do for a demonstration.
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carpenter
Oud Junkie
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The completed pegs, ready for finish, polishing, and final fitting. Left, the knob is filed slightly rounded; center, shaped concave. The end pip is
glued in and shaped. Right is the diameter gauge I forgot earlier. For final fitting, see Jameel's fine tutorial:
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=2292#pid146...
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carpenter
Oud Junkie
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That's about it. This isn't the only way, or necessarily the best way; it's what works for me. Robert Lundberg, in his excellent Historical Lute
Construction, turns pegs using pattern followers on a small metal lathe, and I'm sure there are other ways.
Corrections, suggestions for improvements are welcome.
Also, some errors here are due to the interruption of taking photos. It would be much better to take a set (or more) of pegs to the same stages - all
rough diametered, all rough tapered, all knob profiles turned, and so on; reap the benefits of attention and repetition.
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carpenter
Oud Junkie
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Additionally, I like to use the 4-jaw chuck beginning to end. I turned the initial stages between centers because I started with a rectangular-section
blank.
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Peyman
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Thanks for the tutorial. I like wood turning and will probably get a lathe soon. I have seen people draw the pattern on all sides of the blank to make
it easier to track down the work.
Also, if you don't have a lathe, you can still make pegs by sawing a pattern on a 1 cm thick piece of wood, then using files to shape it. Then you can
fit it with Jameel's tutorial. You can't put a collar on the pegs though 
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carpenter
Oud Junkie
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Another way - I knew it! Thanks, Peyman. A machinist friend tells me the only way to get an exact fit on a taper is with a file. Maybe the cutting-oil
fumes are getting to him there, but he does excellent work; there might be something to it. I do my share of filing on pegs.
Speaking of opinions and tapers, when you get to that two-shiny-rings place in the peg fitting, I like to have the tiniest bit more of shininess, or
contact, on the knob end, a microscopic amount. If the majority of the grab is on the skinny end ... well, I've seen peg shafts twist-broken inside
the pegbox. I bet that's why.
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Jameel
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Great info Jim. And fabulous results. Nice shape to that peg. Your time and effort are appreciated.
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jdowning
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I have been making my own pegs for the past 30 years or so using a slightly different method which may be of some interest. To avoid 'bogging down'
this thread with images I shall post details as a separate thread once I have put a few photos together.
I should mention that I covered peg fitting with some images in my posting of 26 July "Restoration of Egyptian Oud - Part 2" in the Oud Project Forum.
It is more critical for long thin lute pegs that the pegs fit more closely in the pegbox at the peg head end. A tight fit at the narrow end of the peg
can indeed cause twisting of the shank and consequent peg breakage if the peg sticks due to humidity changes.
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carpenter
Oud Junkie
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I. for one, would love to see how you approach it. Thanks in advance.
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carpenter
Oud Junkie
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In the interest of full disclosure, pictured is a shop-made peg taper-maker. I drilled a 1/4" hole in some maple, reamed it, and planed down to where
the reamed slot just opened up. The cutter is an old plane blade, sharpened at a pretty steep angle. (I have an adjustable-spokeshave blade
around here somewhere; with the slots in it, I could use some studs and nuts instead of tying up those handy machinists' clamps ... ah, well, some
day.) Fine-tuning for cut quality required.
Works darn well as is; a couple of pegs pictured. The taper is dandy for the aforementioned collet chuck, but for the final fussy fit, I use a
store-bought fine-adjusting cutter and tiny files.
And I'm a big fan of small-diameter peg shafts : 1) they're finer-tuning, which is great, and, 2) it's SO much easier to fit a slightly bigger peg in
the future than it is to bush wallowed- out old pegholes. Opinions abound, but I'm right.
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jdowning
Oud Junkie
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For those interested, I posted images and details of how to make and use this type of peg shaver on 12/13 January this year. See Oud Projects Forum
'Restoration of Egyptian Oud - Part 2". The blade must be very firmly clamped and well fitted to avoid any movement of the cutting edge which can
result in a poor finish. A long bodied shaver is easier to make and provides better support for the blade. Short thin blades would be more difficult
to control in this respect than the long, thick, good old fashioned blades from wooden planes that I use for this purpose. These can still be found at
flea markets at low cost but usually require a bit of labour to bring them back to a satisfactory working condition.
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