Books › An encyclopedia of the violin, 1925 › scan 106
Scan 106
An encyclopedia of the violin, 1925
21 lines. Read by computer on 26 September 2026. Printed page 82. See the scan on archive.org.
1This procedure serves to fix at once the place which the back is to occupy on the ribs when the glue comes to be applied; for if the attempt were made to find the resting place of the back after the glue had already been applied, it would be found impossible to do so, since the glue, which should never be used unless very hot, congeals very quickly.
3When sure that the back is ready to be glued on the ribs, the small pegs already mentioned are withdrawn, and spreading the glue on blocks and corners and under the outline of the ribs, the back is at once laid down, the pegs are inserted in both, and driven in with the hammer; and finally the instrument is clamped down on every side with as many clamps and screws as may be needed.
5These clamps or screws should be used in the following manner, in order to prevent the back from opening out if the glue should chance to grow cold in certain places. Two clamps are placed on the upper blocks, two on the lower blocks, one at each end of the upper and lower ribs, toward the corners; and finally in the C bouts, and anywhere else where they may be placed with profit.
7A brush should then be dipped in the hot water of the gluepot, and any glue which may have found its way outside the ribs should be removed, and the whole then allowed to dry.
9HOW TO CONSTRUCT THE SOUND BOARD AND PIERCE THE F-HOLES
11As we know, the sound board is the upper part of the violin body, and as has already been remarked, the sound board of the instrument is made in exactly the same manner as is the back. Even greater care should be taken in shaping the sound board of the instrument than the back, in view of the fact that spruce is far more fragile than plane wood and the fiber of this soft wood is often very irregular, which frequently forces a change of direction on the part of the tools being used in order to cut it properly.
13When the sound board is in one piece, the procedure is the same as for the back.
15When the sound board is made of two pieces of wood, care should be taken:
161. To line up the two surfaces which are to be joined with the plane in such a manner that, following the grain of the wood, the grain in both pieces runs parallel.
172. To see to it that the heart of the wood, that is to say that part of the wood where the grain is closest, is in the center of the sound board.
183. When setting up the model, not to trace the little half-circle which is found at the top of the sound board, and which goes under the name of the heel end, where the neck joins the body, as this prolongation is needed by the sound board.
20All in all the F-holes represent the only difference between the back and
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