Oud neck block

[Michael Cyr]

I see a lot of info for making the neck block by either cutting with a saw and then chiseling or band sawing etc but nothing about using a lathe.
If the half profile of the bowl is the same as the backbone profile then at any point along the length (end block to end block) it is a section of a circle.
I want to explain this carefully so looking at a bowl form that has ribs at different positions along its length then each rib is a half circle. The neck block drawn on the profile will give the block thickness and the radius at both sides of that thickness so why can't it be made on the lathe? If their is a slight curvature from the large radius to the small radius that can easily be done on the lathe. Am i missing something?

[Jo Dusepo]

If you have a lathe, sure, you could make a cone shape and cut it in half. I always carve mine by hand.

[Clay Schaeffer]

Ouds and lutes more often than not - don't - have a circular cross section. A lathe might get you close but some carving will be necessary to get the proper shape unless you are building with a less common circular cross section.