Major repair job

Building/Repair
#1

really excited, saved up some pennies to get this (much like B H’s post) and i have a pile of wood on my floor that i’m hoping will one day be a shamisen.

so here we go:

Yes this poor thing is all there is.
Is it me or does this look TINY as parts??

Going to skin using a combo method of tarp clips, s hook and car jack, haven’t decided on a scissor jack or a hydraulic lever jack yet.

Going to use goat skin in medium thickness

titebond liquid hide glue to glue the initial dou together and then wood glue on the nakago and tenjin joints before clamping

needs new strings, neo, doukake, itomaki (where the heck will i find those???), was also wondering if a layer of shellac (french polish) would be okay on it or to stick with the camellia oil…

#2

Yahooo!! Congratulations, Amanda!! Despite all the pieces being separated, that looks like a very good quality shamisen. Love that sao!

haven’t decided on a scissor jack or a hydraulic lever jack yet.

I use a hydraulic level jack, but I think a scissor jack is probably better for two reasons. 1. you could more easily construct a platform that attaches to the top of the scissor jack. 2 With the scissor jack, it will stay in place when you are finished lifting it. With a hydraulic jack, there’s a chance of it slowly collapsing back down a bit.

was also wondering if a layer of shellac (french polish) would be okay on it or to stick with the camellia oil….

Judging from the picture, the lacquer looks quite good and shiny. Perhaps a little bit of wax would be enough to bring it up to a 100% glorious luster?

#3

Good Luck :slight_smile:

#4

just managed to buy all my supplies for this, and had another accident on ebay and have another damaged one on the way!!!
So lots of deliveries soon and watch out kyle, i’m going to need lots of strings, neo and bachi soon!
(plus if i can pull this off, would be nice to repair and offer a skinning service in the uk)
Hope you’re all okay guys, i do miss you

#5

Here is the accident, finally TODAY got around to wetting, stretching the first side of the skin, the one on there was 3 layers of ripstop nylon of all things. Looks like it was once a decent beginners nagauta but then got passed on like a students one as it’s a bit battered.
Wish me luck, the tarp clips kept popping off every time i got decent tension! i bet i wake up tomorrow with them all pinged and the skin dried wonky!

#6

Whoa nice! It’s really coming along now :smiley:

Not that I’d try, but I wonder if you could play a shamisen dou all rigged up for kawahari like a kotsuzumi :stuck_out_tongue:

#7

Whoah that is quite a construction / setup . . . good luck !

#8

Lessons day two:

Understand why 4 separate ropes used for each side in the book, the stretch is a little uneven and using one rope pulled in one direction made the top parts twist.

DID NOT PING! provided I was careful with the cranking and gentle I could get more tension in while the glue was still wet

I used what I had to hand and the nails weren’t strong enough. Using the same set up will replace with screws (hopefully the wood will hold)

Really need the placing plate to put the wet skin on more evenly, will make puppy eyes at dad to cut me some more wood.

#9

Day three:

HELP!

Just took off all the clips and off the rig…only half the glue stuck the hide down and lost all the tension (after it was a perfect tone as well)
What other glues could I use? I am wary of pva’s

#10

Ohh no! I’m assuming you’re using mochiko glue?

Noriko would be the best alternative to that, despite the PVA additive. If you’re against using that, I’ve seen someone use hide glue and said it worked well. Others have suggested just soaking the skin to get the glue off, giving the dou a light sanding to get it off of that, and giving it another go with the mochiko, especially since this is a nagauta.

#11

Hmm okays, I have some liquid hide glue I can try as well as making more mochiko. If I hate either I’ll try and get some Noriko if I can when I’m in London for a day in a week or so

#12

Hide glue is setting now, managed to eventually get the right tone back after a bajillion times of putting clips back on, only thing is, looks like it stained the skin :frowning:

#13

Ah darn! But at least it works, I guess. Good luck!

© 2020 Kyle Abbott