Books › Violins and other stringed instruments : how to make them ; with numerous engravings and diagrams, 1906 › scan 36
Scan 36
Violins and other stringed instruments : how to make them ; with numerous engravings and diagrams, 1906
8 lines. Read by computer on 29 August 2026. Printed page 32. See the scan on archive.org.
1varius, Guarnerius, Amati, and Stainer, and it is impossible to alter these patterns without spoiling the whole fiddle.
3To copy a fiddle the worker is usually directed to place it on its back over a piece of white paper, and trace the outline; but this does not give the true outline, because of the bulging of the back. Therefore, if possible, remove the back of the violin and place it, inside down, on the paper. If not, avoid outlines which can be bought and which are too often traced from an unopened fiddle, which give very different results from those obtained from a separate back. Avoid the small Amati pattern; choose rather either the Guarnerian or Stradivarian forms, these being larger; it is then still possible to use the pretty Amati arching and thickness, when the charming but feeble Amati tone will be strengthened by the larger outlines of the other two shapes.
5Do not take a complete outline. The best way of copying a violin is to take half an outline, turn it over, and add the rest from the same tracing. In finishing, the fiddle edges will be a trifle out, but the error will be much less than if a whole outline is treated at the start. Therefore, trace with a very finely pointed H pencil a half outline on a piece of tough official paper. This is better than tracing on to a thin plank, as sometimes advised, because it needs no squaring with chisel and file. The paper should be at least 14 in. by 9 in. for the half outline of the model, a line down the middle of the length of the paper having first been drawn with a straightedge. Then turn the half outline over very carefully, and trace it again so as to obtain the shape of the violin. Four fine pins may be used to prevent slipping, and note that the paper must not double up at all. Next, with a pair of fine scissors cut inside the pencil mark very exactly; this is necessary, or the extra thickness of even the pencil line will spoil the fine outline.
7Now screw the two prepared boards together again. Draw a pencil line down the middle of the length, and at 2 in. from one end place the wide end of the outline
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