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Scan 154
An encyclopedia of the violin
24 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 126. See the scan on archive.org.
1One of these drills is intended to bore the hole in the lower end of the stick which is to hold the screw that makes the nut advance and recede, as well as to drill the holes meant to open the wedge box in which the clamp which holds one side of the nut, and whose screw turns in the said wedge box, is to be placed. Finally, the same drill may also be used to bore the hole which is to receive the plate which carries the screw in the nut.
3Another drill, larger but shorter, will serve to drill the holes in the head of the stick and at the nut which are intended to hold the hair, as will be explained later.
5The drill (Fig. 3, Plate 38), is made of steel highly tempered at the point. This double-faced point should be beveled so as to form narrow cutting edges, and one edge should be on each face of the drill, so cut that one and the same rotary movement allows them to bite into the wood simultaneously.
7The points of the drill alone should be tempered, since, were the entire drill to be tempered, it would break too easily. These are, practically, all the tools used for drilling the holes.
9In general it is well to have all the steel tools and iron tools made by a tool maker, or by some workman who is accustomed to tempering metals, since he will invariably make a better job of it than a stranger unacquainted with this sort of work, who will only make one good drill in a hundred. One must have a special drill for each kind of bow.
11The Chisels.—The bow makers' chisels are very short, and rightly so. They are fitted into wooden handles in mushroom form, and they look exactly like an engraving chisel.
13Two inches of blade and as many of handle is the correct proportion which this tool should have. If it were larger it would be cumbersome, and, in addition, the person using it would be liable to cut himself.
15The tools should not be very long, so that the hand which is using them has all the more strength to force them to bite into the wood of the bow, which is always very hard.
17These chisels are adapted to the various species of chiseling for which they are intended. Thus, the chisel used to cut out the wedge box in the head and in the nut should be larger than the one used to cut out the lower mortise in the stick. By merely looking at a well-made chisel, one can at once recognize the proportions which the various bow making tools should have.
19The Knives.—Since these are in all respects similar to those used by the violin maker, we refer the reader to the first part of this work.
21The Saws.—Two saws are all that are needed in bow making. One saw, 16 centimeters long by 4 centimeters broad (6 3/10" by 1 3/5"), mounted in the German style, serves to divide the wood which furnishes the stick. The blade of this saw must be very highly tempered, since otherwise it will not long resist the extreme hardness of the wood which it is used to saw.
23The other saw, a spring saw, very fine-toothed, clamped (a hack-saw) is
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