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Scan 116
An encyclopedia of the violin
12 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 88. See the scan on archive.org.
1is placed flat on the sound board, and, with the other in the center of the bar, the height it should have at the place in question is marked. A tooth-plane scraper is then taken, and the bar is planed in such wise that it assumes the form shown in Figure 17, Plate 32; the traces of the tooth plane are then removed by the scraper, and in conclusion the bass-bar is rubbed smooth with glass paper.
3The next thing to do is to fit the sound board to the violin. This process does not offer any difficulties, for after having covered the ribs, the linings, the blocks and the corners of the violin with glue, as has already been shown, all that is left to do is to affix the sound board, first by means of the two small pegs of which we have already spoken, and then by means of clamps, employing the same process followed in gluing the back. After this has been done, it should be allowed to dry, and, as before, the glue which may have escaped and found its way outside the ribs should be washed off.
5When this point has been reached and the violin has been disengaged from its clamps, the edges should be carefully examined, those of the back as well as those of the sound board, to see that they do not outpass the ribs in some places to a greater extent than in others, and if they do, the defect should be remedied by cutting away with the knife, and always cleanly and neatly, as much of the edging as may stand out above the ribs.
7This accomplished, the back and the sound board should be purfled; that is, in small grooves or incisions made in them along the entire border of the instrument, there are introduced and fixed in place with glue, small filaments or tongues of wood whose only purpose is to embellish the instrument. There are usually three of these tongues or purflings, known as "sandwiches," two of wood stained ebony and one, between them, which remains white.
9It is possible to purchase these purflings ready-made, especially from violin makers. They are all the better for having been cut by the bench saw, and may be had in any desired thickness. It is well, however, that the violin builder make whatever is to be made in connection with the instrument with his own hands, and for this reason we will describe how these purflings should be fashioned. First of all, the two intended to be black should be stained ebony color, for which purpose the recipe for making a black stain in the section treating of varnishes may be consulted.
11The wood most easily obtainable for use in this connection is white hawthorn. One should begin by cutting a piece of this wood 35 millimeters (1 1/3") thick by 167 millimeters (6") long. Its length should be at least that which the purfling itself will have when it is put in place. It goes without saying that this piece of wood should have neither knots nor cracks. It is placed in the workbench vise, with its narrowest side presented to the steel of the plane; the plane is passed over it, and a single shaving of wood removed. When this first shaving has been removed, it is necessary to see whether the thickness desired has been obtained. If the side is still too narrow,
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