Principles of Shape Lesson 1: Surface control

[Stephen Perry]

Principles of Shape

Lesson 1: Surface Control

For Becky

The notion of surface control came to mind while shaping the nut on a Lafferty mandolin this afternoon. This is natural to my hands and eyes, which likely indicates a deep system embedded in my being sees and works that way.

I recall fairly vividly a strikingly crowded and noisy, but distant, museum exhibit. Cezanne. Slabs of color, the world broken to shards, reassembled. Non-photographic. Non-perspective. Drawing me in, the chatter and footsteps and echos left behind, Provence of long ago blowing through me, gentle and vibrant.

I never saw the same again.

Somehow that ties to the evolution of shape beneath blade and abrasive. The nut reminded me. First the plane of the top surface, gently tilted back slightly, even across until the G and D course strings would protrude just a little, perhaps half. The A and E courses still deep in secret valleys. A touch of carpenter’s pencil across the file marked plane. Then a new plane, from the treble side, meeting the first at the middle of the nut, gradually hingeing down until half the nut carries carbon and half does not, the E strings just barely in the slot. The back half towards the headstock now misshapen. But a line marked between white bone and black ebony.

File along the back edge, 45 degrees, another plane shortening the G and D slots, then hineging down towards the E, matching the top, but tapered until graceful. Then breaking those angles in the same pattern, above and below. And just a careful swipe breaking each of those. The final file strokes rounding the ends, triangle flats at 45 degrees to the board, tapering to nothing. Sharp edges just kissed with a fine file.

Next wet paper wrapped around cork, well worn cork, familiar to my hands. 220. 320. 400. 600. 800. 1000. Plastic polish from a bottle, white on the cloth, briskly rubbed. Quick wipe. Gleams.

Like a great roofing job, nobody notices a nicely done nut. It just looks right. Like a stone in a creek, part of the scene.




Becky is learning some things about mandolins and the like. The next lesson is on fret shaping and board treatment. It's been done, but it's still fun.

[SGraham]

Stephen, Thank you for taking the time to write and post this. I could picture this perfectly. You're very good at imagery.

[Stephen Perry]

Thank you. This is more fun than legal writing. Seems too much of my day is spent writing letters explaining the equivalent of "that won't fly" and "water only runs down hill."

[jso]

Poetry.

[Stephen Perry]

It's actually for Becky. She likes words. I have words. She has setup books and tool books. She likes books. But she doesn't have the books to guide the visualization of things. I may do frets next. Or perhaps a mandolin bridge. Or my new way of voicing mandolins. Something fun. But there's a couple of demand letters and at least 2 cases needing discovery requests done.

[Marty Jacobson]

You should try surface modeling in CAD sometime. The words that will come to you will be less poetic.

[SGraham]

Whatever you do next for her, post it here too if you don't mind. Thanks in advance!