MIMF

The body of the Oud is sanded smooth/round on the outside of the instrument. I looked at as many pictures of oud's as possible and in some pictures it appears that the individual staves were left flat. It's hard to tell for sure in pictures so i ask is this an accepted practice? If someone knows of a good picture of one built like this i would appreciate a link to it, that is if it really is an accepted practice. Thank you.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrqoD5Ln_Df ... 7a1ay6hzgf
This is a picture of what i am thinking of it appears to have flat staves. Correct me if I'm wrong.

On lutes, the staves are very thin (maybe 2mm or so), so to round the back of the instrument to eliminate the flats, if there are a low number of staves would remove the wood from the stave joint, before you rounded the body. Most lutes of a pretty low number of staves. Ouds generally have a higher number of staves, and use a bit thicker wood for the staves. This allows the maker to round the body out, without making the area of the stave seems too thin. I don't think I have ever seen an oud with flat staves, but I have seen lots of lutes with flat staves.

Yes now i see the difference between the 2. I like the looks of the oud more than the lute which has a wider neck and a lot more strings but besides that they look very similar in fact on Jo Dusepo site he has a lute with 5 course of strings like an oud but i still like the looks of the oud better. I want to build one of these but sadly i can't play it theirs not a musical bone in my body but i am a woodworker looking for a cool project and i think the oud is it. Knowing my woodworking ability i think i will have a hard time bending the staves the traditional way but i know i can glue up a couple of 1/16 strips to a mold and get the shape that way. But sanding it round will most likely blow through the 1/16 top layer so i was thinking of leaving it flat having seen some photos not knowing i was looking at lutes and ouds and mixing them up. So what do the luthiers think is it a big no no to make an oud with flat staves? Maybe Jo Dusepo has some advice on this it will be appreciated.

Unless you are trying to sell something, you can do whatever you want - flat staves, rounded staves, in Greek bouzoukis, there is even a technique for hollowing out the center of each stave, with a scraper to make the stave concave, so the seems are raised.

If you want a rounded, smooth back try making a rib form with a radiused surface. Steam and bend the rib over the form then wrap with cord to force the lateral curve.