Books › Violin making and repairing, 1927 › scan 10
Scan 10
Violin making and repairing, 1927
8 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1cutting is preferable, and in sycamore the finest figure is obtained by the method of quarter-cutting.
3Before commencing work on any piece of material it should be stored for a fortnight or so in a warm, dry, airy place, and during working kept, so far as possible, from damp or moist air. This will obviate or at least lessen variation from atmospheric changes.
5In choosing wood for the plates of a violin (that is, the back and the belly), it is useful to consider the relative density of the material. For instance, a hard, close-grained back will give a sound more metallic in character when struck with the knuckles of the hand than will a soft, open-grained one. It will thus be seen that the choice of material must be guided to a large extent by the nature of the vibrations set in motion by the above means. If the back is hard and metallic in sound, it naturally follows that the belly must be chosen with a view to neutralising that metallic quality. So in the case of the belly. The fine-grained pine wedge with grain or growth lines close together will emit a sharper note than the wide-grained material, and in choosing a back to match a belly of this calibre, the worker should endeavour to obtain a tone in that back which will balance, so to speak, the hard metallic note of that particular piece. In violin building this precaution must be observed throughout the whole of the operations.
7Endeavour to balance one piece against another, and so contribute to the fine, smooth tone so much in evidence in a good violin. Of course, much may be done by adjustment after the violin is built, yet
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