Books › An encyclopedia of the violin, 1925 › scan 92
Scan 92
An encyclopedia of the violin, 1925
12 lines. Read by computer on 26 September 2026. Printed page 68. See the scan on archive.org.
1hundred years ago or more, by the Stradivarii, the Amati, the Stainers and the Guarneri.
3One begins by planing down a small piece of maple or some other hard wood to a line thickness of about 2/25 of an inch, taking care to give this piece of wood somewhat greater dimensions, as regards length and breadth, than those of the violin to be copied. The violin which serves as a model must then be "unboarded."
5Unboarding a violin consists in separating the belly from the body of the instrument, to which it is attached by the ribs. In order to carry out this operation successfully, the greatest care must be taken so that neither the belly nor its sides be broken, since both are fragile. A knife especially meant for the purpose should be used. This knife, which ought not to be too flexible, should nevertheless be rather narrow at the sides and at its extremity, which is rounded, so that it can easily be inserted between the ribs and the soundboard. Little by little, while holding the thumb of the left hand on that portion of the soundboard which is being separated from the ribs, this operation—which is a trifling matter for the experienced violin builder—can be brought to a successful conclusion. The knife to be used might most appropriately be compared to a paper knife, with a blade no more than about 2 3/4 inches in length.
7When the belly is finally separated from the body of the violin, the piece of "model" wood is placed flat upon the workbench, and the belly upon the piece of "model" wood, on the side from which it has been removed; then, taking a tracer, which is nothing more or less than a well-tempered and pointed bodkin of steel, the exact outline of the belly is traced around it upon the wooden model (Fig. 1, Plate 30).
9This tracing completed, there must first be removed, with the very finest kind of a saw, all the wood which lies outside the line of the tracing; while the greatest care must be exercised not to approach the traced line too closely. This operation is completed by giving the model its exact shape and form with the aid of a well-sharpened penknife and scrapers.
11In order to trace the model of Figure 2, Plate 30, the curve of the instrument along its greatest length, one must take a piece of the "model" wood, one and a half inches broad by fourteen inches long, and place it on the middle of the sound board, on the varnish side. Then the sound board is rested against the workbench, a compass is opened about four inches, one of its points is placed flat on the sound board, and the other upon the "model" piece of wood which should be firmly held in the left hand; the compass, in the position indicated, is then moved from one end of the sound board to the other, care being taken that it bear constantly on the "model" piece, which in this way receives the imprint of the arch which it is desired that it obtain. The wood lying outside the tracing is then removed with a penknife, the "model" is once more placed on the sound board, and the points
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