Books › An encyclopedia of the violin, 1925 › scan 100
Scan 100
An encyclopedia of the violin, 1925
14 lines. Read by computer on 26 September 2026. Printed page 76. See the scan on archive.org.
1by the plane. In order to do so the tool should be used from above, holding its lower extremity between the knees and resting its end against the workbench. Then, presenting the surface of the piece of rib wood to the blade of the plane, its two sides should be planed in such wise as to give the piece an exact breadth of 1 1/4 inches (32 mm.).
3The ribs or sides should then be bent in order to give them the form of the outlines of the mold. In order to do so, the bending iron should be heated, not to a degree which will cause it to blacken the wood, but merely enough to soften it and allow of its manipulation. While this tool is in the fire, the ribs side pieces are plunged once or twice into water. Then the bending iron should be clamped upon the bench, and sitting opposite it one should begin to bend the C's or inner bouts, which have to meet at the extremity of the corners of the mold. Whenever a bend has been made—gentle pressure should always be applied—the rib must be adjusted to that part of the mold where it is to be fixed, and, if necessary, the curve which the bending iron has given the rib in question must be rectified by once more working it against the iron.
5This operation, simple enough in itself, should nevertheless be carried out with the greatest care. The wood must be bent little by little, for any attempt to hasten the work may result in splitting the sides. When the wood becomes too dry it is plunged into the water again.
7Care should also be taken that the sides are not warped during the bending process, and that once fitted and glued to the mold they are perfectly adjusted. A little practice soon develops great skill in this procedure. When the ribs or sides have been given the exact shape of the rim of the mold, they must then be fixed on the blocks and corners.
9The time has now arrived for us to make use of the counterparts, the linings, which, as has already been explained in speaking of the mold, are nothing more or less than pieces of wood of the same breadth and thickness as the ribs or sides, that is to say, 32 millimeters (1 1/4") broad.
11These pieces of wood represent the exact counterpart of the mold, provided with its blocks and trimmed corners, as may be seen in Figure 22. These linings or counterparts serve to press the ribs against the blocks and corners, and to fix them there definitely by means of glue.
13Begin by rubbing all the edges of the mold with a piece of soap, taking the greatest care at the same time not to touch either the corners or the blocks with the soap. Then one of the inner faces of one of the C bouts should be covered with glue. (The C bouts are the two ribs which have the shape of the letter in question.) The rib is then taken, and the lining corresponding to it is pressed against it; then, while passing the end of the clamping iron into the hole adjacent to the C bout, the pivot of the clamping iron is rested on the flat side of the lining while, tightening the vise, pressure is applied until the lining touches the whole interior of the C bout formed
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