a blog by Peter Leonard
OK! The two halves of the instrument have been setting all night, and the glue should be dry by now. Time to put the shell on the rotating sander to smooth out the insides of the instrument. This is part of the fiddle's sound-chamber, so it's important that the sides are smooth:
Here's the finished result, showing the glued seam as well:
The next step is to mark and drill the holes for the tuning pegs:
In go the tuning pegs:
Next we'll use a bandsaw to rough out the sound holes in the top board:
The finishing work is done with rasps and files, to round the front edges:
A very time-consuming, but important, part of the shaping of the front sound board is to thin the front of the wood in a very slight incline from the center to the edges, so that the board is thicker in the middle and thinner where it meets the sides. We do this with a plane:
The bass resonator is mounted on the underside of the front panel, hidden from view. It helps shape the sound produced by the instrument. First we'll make sure the side that mates with the inside of the case is absolutely flat:
We'll measure and mark where to glue the bass resonator on the inside of the front panel:
Here's the bass resonator in place, together with the keyboard support on the lower left, which helps bear the weight and pressure of the keys:
How many clamps does it take to hold down the bass resonator and keyboard support?
While that's setting and drying, let's start gluing the back panel on:
Dozens of clamps hold the board in place, while we wipe off excess glue with water:
Tune in tomorrow for more exciting adventures in clamping and gluing!
