[image] Anthony Perry, Maker, Wolverhampton
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[image] Anthony Perry, fine violins & violas

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FITTING LININGS TO CENTRE BOUTS
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:: Fitting Linings to the Centre Bouts ::

Under the Cremonese system of violin construction, the linings are let into the blocks in the centre bouts by 6-8 mm to reinforce the bridge area.

To execute this work neatly, involving cutting the blocks against the grain to form a shoulder on which the lining stands, is usually a time-consuming job.

I simplify this process by cutting narrow slots which will form the shoulders before the ribs are glued in place.

In the centre linings images click herephoto you will see the left centre bout blocks immediately before the inner bout ribs are attached.

Two horizontal slots (which I have highlighted with a pencil) form the shoulders on which the linings will eventually rest.

If the size of the finished linings is say 8mm x 2mm, the upper slot will be 8 mm from the top of the block, and the lower slot will be a similar distance from the bottom.

Slots are cut as shown using a thin-bladed chisel - I use an X-acto craft chisel fitted with a 6.5 mm x 0.5 mm blade.

Since the linings come away from the ribs as they enter the blocks, the chisel blade must be presented slanting to the curved surface of the blocks, so as to produce a slot which is 2 mm deep on entry, deepening to about 3 mm further into the blocks.

Care is required not to push too hard and straight through the blocks, and a scrap of wood held behind the block is helpful during this operation..

To keep the surface of the shoulder square with the lining, the top slot is cut with the channel of the chisel on top, and vice versa on the bottom.

The other blocks adjacent to the centre bouts are similarly treated, and, having done this, the ribs can be glued on as normal.

To cut the recess in the blocks for the linings down to the pre-cut shoulder, I use the same craft chisel, alternating the way the channel is presented to the wood to achieve a cut which is parallel to the ribs.

You will feel increased resistence when the chisel runs up against the glue-line, where glue has entered the slots when the ribs were attached.

A second cut is made parallel to the first, and the piece in between, which at this stage should be rather narrower than the linings, can be lifted out.

3 Cheswell Close, Wolverhampton, WV6 8AS, UK
Telephone: 01902 755610 & 07976 245861
E-mail: anthony@perryviolins.co.uk
A member of the British Violin Making Association and the Violin Society of America
Photography by Andy Purcell | Website by Alan Benzie | © 2003 A Perry.