Books › The Violin: A concise exposition of the general principles of construction.., 1871 › scan 101
Scan 101
The Violin: A concise exposition of the general principles of construction.., 1871
6 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1two inches long from A to B, 3/8 of an in. broad, and about 1/16 of an in. thick at back. This tool is used in a similar manner to a draw knife, and is only intended for excavating the rougher portions of the wood, and must be worked rather lightly. A small knuckle-bent gouge, Fig. 13, will be found extremely useful in hollowing out the part of the exterior surface adjoining the indenting. In Fig. 14 is represented another form of callipers, which will be found very useful in taking the thicknesses of the breast of any whole violin; two different sizes of this callipers will prove serviceable, one leg is inserted through the f hole, as will be understood from the illustration.
3No invariable standard thicknesses can, as a rule, be adopted in the construction of the various instruments, as this depends upon the quality of the wood and the model chosen, as Amati adopted one method, whilst Guarnerius and Stradivarius wrought each upon entirely different principles. The reader, by referring to Chapters II., III., and IV., will easily perceive this, as well as the various reasons for departure from a fixed rule. The following thicknesses, as a mean standard, may be successfully chosen for the back, whilst the other parts of the instrument must be built in a proportionately harmonious manner as regards volume or capacity and toning of breast. Dress three small pieces of hardwood about 1 inch long and 3/8 inch broad to the following thicknesses exactly:—No. 1, 1/2 of an inch; No. 2, 1 3/8 lines; and No. 3, 1 1/4 lines.
5Those various sizes are the mean thicknesses for the back (the breast being always slightly thinner
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