A - Violin (Daniel & Sam)

A

Violin

What You’ll Need

Planes Bending Iron

Thickness Calipers Clamps

This guide is based on the

Sounds Post Setter Peg Shaper Purfling Marker

Peg Reamers

Wood (5-20yrs) -Maple - Spruce -Ebony

Stradivarius Violin design

Creating the moulds Blocks

Template Spruce for the top, willow for the internal blocks

Create a mould to shape ribs, First put in the corner and end blocks, then starting with the ‘C bouts’ bend ribs using the hot bending iron.

A thin wooden lining is added to reinforce the ribs before template being removed.

and linings, maple for the back, ribs and the neck,

Cutting & Shaping the Body

A piece of maple is cut into two pieces and bonded together to expose the grain in mirror image.

Using the chosen template to shape the back with a selection of planes then made smooth with a scraper to desired body thickness, usually around 4mm.

Use 5 arching templates called quinte to make sure you get the shape you want.

Back - 350mm Upper Bouts - 164mm

Middle Bouts - 109mm Lower Bouts - 205mm Arch height Lengthways - 15mm Arch height Crossways - 14.4mm

Adding the Purfling & ‘F’ Holes 2mm

The purfling is a thin sandwich of wood along the edges of the violin is to prevent cracks from spreading.

The ‘purfling’ is glued into the channel around the top and bottom body and then carved some more to smoothen the surface.

Stradivari focused mainly on creating

Measure where you would like your ‘F holes’ using a compass and measurements from your model.

Step 1 Step 2 At some frequencies the air moves in and out of phase with that of the belly.

Step 1

Step 2

his instruments using inner form.

Attaching the Bass Bar & Making the Scroll & Neck

The ‘bass bar’ is then attatched to the under side of the violin right under the bass foot of the bridge.

The modern fingerboard is solid ebony.

Use pinpricks to create the outline of the scroll shape, then drill the peg holes. using a template.

Then the scroll, neck and fingerboard are sized and carved into desired shape and design.

Attatch the neck to the body using a mortise and tenon joint.

Glueing the violin Together

There has been theories that the wood has been treated with several types of minerals: potassium borate, sodium and potassium silicate and vernice baince, a varnish compsed of gum arabic, honey and egg white.

Hide glue is the standard glue that is used by violin makers, and is prized for its organic nature and ability to be dissolved to remove a plate or other part of a violin and perform necessary repairs.

Varnish & Finishing

The final steps of varnishing the violin include: - Tanning the wood - Primer or Sealer Coating - Oil based varnishing - Finishing touch of varnishing adding colouring agents The instrument can then be lightly polished using a soft cloth with alcohol and mineral oil and or polished out using pumice powders.

Before applying any coatings to the instrument, the white wood can be given a tan by exposure to sunlight for a period of several days to several weeks.

By Daniel Wallace Samuel Mallard