Books › The Violin: A concise exposition of the general principles of construction.., 1871 › scan 88
Scan 88
The Violin: A concise exposition of the general principles of construction.., 1871
8 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Mackintosh of Dublin it is said discovered a process by which he cleansed the wood of its resinous particles, &c., without deteriorating the fibre, but his secret he never made known. There can be no doubt that a lengthened seasoning is the most efficient method for the present purpose, as it gives greater toughness, elasticity, and resonance to the wood than by any artificial means that can be adopted.
3The celebrated Parisian maker, Vuillaume, even went personally through Italy and Switzerland in order to obtain his time-worn wood. In many cottages of the peasantry and others the furniture and woodwork of the house are composed of pine of a very fine quality, which has perhaps been standing there for hundreds of years, and which consequently possesses the necessary resonant properties. This valuable material was what Vuillaume purchased, and as a result, some of the instruments produced from it, by a few months' usage, equal the old Cremonas. Wood which grows in rocky and exposed situations possesses much sonority. No wood, under at least four or five years' seasoning, ought to be used for violin making, and not even then, unless it has been known that the tree was ripe when cut.
5The wood of the entire tree previous to maturity may be divided into two portions, the outer called sapwood, which is soft, weak, and less compact than the inner
7By this process the fibres of the wood were drawn closer together, the colour became darker, and maple and pine treated by steam at a temperature of 487°, were rendered far more valuable for musical instruments than by any process heretofore known.
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