Books › An Encyclopedia of the Violin, 1925 › scan 124
Scan 124
An Encyclopedia of the Violin, 1925
16 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 98. See the scan on archive.org.
1A rat-tail file is then used to cut the four notches in the nut at the upper end of the neck intended to receive the strings, care being taken to make them as shallow as possible and to smooth them with glass paper. Then the hole intended to receive the button is pierced in the middle of the ribs and at the point of their junction.
3How to Place the Sound Post, the Pegs, the Bridge and Other Accessories
5When the violin has been varnished, attention should be paid to polishing the finger board and the nuts. In order to do so, five or six bunches of shave grass whose knots have been removed should be allowed to steep for a few minutes, and the ebony should be rubbed with them, moistening them continually, until it has taken on a fine polish. A linen rag impregnated with oil mixed with Tripoli, as well as sieved and powdered charcoal, should be used to rub with, until the pieces have acquired a varnishlike luster.
7This done, with a borer of smaller size than the pin of the pegs, the holes which are to receive the latter are pierced, and are enlarged with the peg-hole finished in such wise that the pegs will fit into them. This adjustment of the pegs, which does not seem very hard, calls for much care, nevertheless.
9The most disagreeable thing which can happen to any string instrument player is to have to use pegs which jump, or which move only by jerks, or which come out. To do away with this inconvenience, the violin maker should be careful, in adjusting the pegs, to use only a file which is neither too fine nor too coarse. He must also be careful to fit the pegs equally in the holes of the peg box, to prevent their first twisting and then breaking; the holes, furthermore should be made very round, which is easy enough to do if the peg-hole finisher is ground in such fashion as to cut cleanly and without any effort on the part of the hand using it.
11There is a little trick which is not generally known to make the pegs turn evenly and prevent their coming out. We will explain it.
13Take two parts of Spanish white, reduced to a very fine powder, and add to it one part of colophonium, also reduced to powder. Mix these two substances well, and when the pegs have been adjusted, take a piece of very dry soap, and rub the pins of the pegs lightly with it, then covering them with the mixture of Spanish white and colophonium. If this is done they will function admirably.
15Before proceeding it might be well to remark that the pegs and the buttons being made by means of the turner, the violin maker can procure them from the carpenter shop ready-made. In Mirecourt, bridges and tailpieces may be bought so cheaply that there are hardly any violin builders who make these parts themselves. Those who prefer to fabricate these parts themselves, however, will succeed in making their tailpieces without much difficulty, but, as to bridges, it takes a good while before one as shapely and
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.