Books › Violins and other stringed instruments : how to make them ; with numerous engravings and diagrams, 1906 › scan 41
Scan 41
Violins and other stringed instruments : how to make them ; with numerous engravings and diagrams, 1906
6 lines. Read by computer on 29 August 2026. Printed page 37. See the scan on archive.org.
1outside moulds, but for the mould just described, false corner blocks and little sticks can be used.
3The mould should be tested from time to time. To do this, fasten with four screws in each, two steel bars 1 in. wide and 1 in. deep at each end, on, say, the back surface. Any deviation can then be noticed by applying a piece of cardboard either under the middle or the ends of the bars. Two boards are used instead of one, because of the difficulty, away from a town, of getting seasoned wood of the proper thickness. Also by unscrewing and removing one piece, the side linings can be clipped very conveniently. This mould should not be kept in a very warm place nor in the sunlight, and it is well, when taking up violin making as a hobby, to have several moulds, it being usual to have a dozen sets, say, of violin bodies in hand at once. Then back, belly, and neck can be added, finished off, and left to season, it being useless to varnish till the summer. When the inside edges of the mould bulge a little where they ought not to, it is of little consequence, if anywhere between the corners and end blocks, providing the bulging (or hollowing), is repeated the whole depth so as to square well, as the rib will not follow small errors, but sweeps past them. The corners are the vital parts of a mould. The ends also must be flat, not askew, or they should be only just slightly rounded off.
5The above method of mould making is recommended; but one other way is of advantage because it produces two moulds at one operation—one outside and one inside. Obtain a piece of well-seasoned straight hardwood, as beech, birch, or sycamore, 17 in. long by 9½ in. broad at one end, tapering to 8½ in. at the other, and 1½ in. thick. Plane this piece perfectly true in length and breadth, and finish it 1½ in. thick at the broad end, tapering to 1¼ in. at the narrow end. Now make a line down the middle from end to end with a sharp awl, and afterwards trace the line with lead pencil to make it more legible. Instructions given in the next chapter on violin making will refer to the patterns represented by
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