Books › A treatise on the structure and preservation of the violin and all other bow-instruments; together with an account of the most celebrated makers, and of the genuine characteristics of their instruments;, 1860 › scan 26
Scan 26
A treatise on the structure and preservation of the violin and all other bow-instruments; together with an account of the most celebrated makers, and of the genuine characteristics of their instruments;, 1860
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1this purpose, the thick or bark-parts of the pieces for the belly are so fitted and glued together, that the under side may be even, but the upper or outside elevated down the middle and slanting off gradually towards the edges, something like the flat roof of a house. (See Illustrations, Fig. 1.) The even side is then smoothed and the model traced on it*, after which the wood is cut and filed away on the outside; and when the convex part is entirely finished, the inside is worked out in a similar manner: in doing this, a pair of double callipers are highly necessary, for the purpose of carefully ascertaining the thickness in every part of the belly. The f-holes are now cut out, and the bass-bar glued on. The back is formed precisely in the same way.
3through some process for the purpose of not only preserving but cleansing it, and making it consequently a better conductor of sound." This cleansing refers to the extraction of the resinous or gummy substance with which the pores of the wood are clogged, and in effecting which, without injury to the wood itself, the great difficulty consists. Mackintosh further states that the wood must not only be of firm and regular texture, but have "pores of a certain size and formation; and, above all, it is essential that it shall have attained not only full maturity of growth, but shall have remained for some years after being felled, in order to make it fit to go through a process by which the pores (for that is the great object to be arrived at) may be rendered so perfectly dried and cleared, as not afterwards to be liable to close or alter their natural position, or become crooked or irregular, as would be the inevitable consequence if cut up immediately into thin pieces, as it is then liable to shrink, which is also objectionable as being injurious to the pores." He subsequently adds; "when experimenting, I have had recourse to steaming, steeping, stoving, boiling, and baking the timber; I have also used all kinds of spirits, caustics, and acids; but all these disorganized the pores and impaired the fibres of the timber; which ought to be preserved in a sound and perfect state." The secret of his own process for the thorough cleansing of the pores is not declared.—Tr.
5* A simple method of tracing a model is given in No. I of the Appendix.—Tr.
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