A First Violin — 2nd Installment

With the side, or rib, assembly together, it’s time to mark the outline of the top and back and then carve them to shape and thickness.

Preliminary Carving Top

Marking Back Outline

The pins used to index the top to the rib assembly are seen here as well as the variety of tools I used to shape the top outline accurately. I scribed the exact outline of the ribs and also made  use of a spacer to create an outline about 3 mm beyond the margin of the ribs to mark the saw cut.

After the initial carving was completed I formed a flat ledge prior to routing a channel to accept the purlfing inlay

Purfling Ledge

Purfling Channel

I should have mentioned at the outset that my primary resource for building guidance is the lovely book by Chris Johnson and Roy Courtnall, “The Art of Violin Making”. I do however have a library of reference materials about 2 feet long on my book shelf thanks to my dad’s collecting efforts. I managed to work my way through all of it prior to embarking on this endeavor!

With the channel completed, the purfling itself was bent, fitted, and glued into place.

Bent Purfling

Inlaid Purfling

Purfling Closeup

Next comes the final carving of the outside accomplished first with chisel, then small arched finger plane, and finally a thin, very flexible scraper.  I prepared a template of the f-hole and located that on the top once the carving was finalized.

Finger Plane

Scraper and F-hole Template

Now for carving the inside. The thickness of the top is not uniform and is described by something like a topographic map into zones of various thickness. Once these areas are outlined I used a drilling method with the drill press to indicate proper depth. A wedge is graduated with appropriate thicknesses marked on it; the board with the vertical peg is mounted on the drill press and then the depth stop is set using the wedge as required. The top rests on the peg and is drilled as needed to mark the thicknesses.  After the top is drilled hand carving begins

Drilling Fixture

Drilled Top

Carving Top Inside

Carving Inside Top Complete

Here’s the f-holes in progress

Bass F-hole

F-holes Completed

The bass-bar is now fitted, glued, and carved. I took a novel approach to locating it that some builders may find useful. The notched walnut blocks are temporarily attached with double-stick tape.  The notches in the blocks are a slip-fit for the width of the bass-bar and allow a small amount of movement forward and back for accurate rub-fitting of the bass-bar to the top. After gluing, the blocks were released by placing a few drops of acetone at their edges.

Bass-bar

The procedures for the back are nearly identical.  It’s getting close to time to glue up the body!

Finished Back

Until next time!
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