The Final Arch

Now that the purfling is installed, I can focus on finalizing the arches of the top and back.

For the first step, I return to the purfling. Using a 12mm gouge with a number five sweep, I cut a nice, even trough all around the edges of the plates, bringing them down to near-final thickness.


Then I'm ready to get down to business. Using my arching gouge whenever it will save me time and my fingerplanes when it won't, I carefully sculpt the outsides of the plates. As guides, I use "third generation" aluminum templates. That is to say, they are a copy of a copy of a set of arching templates, in this case derived from a 1715 (golden period) Stradivari Violin.

They are reasonable accurate, but it's important to keep in mind that each piece of wood is different, and that each golden-period Strad is different. Consequently, as my instructor John Reed once reminded me, they are guides, not gods.

I start out using standard convex blades in the arching gouges, but as I get down to finer and finer work, I switch the blades out for toothed blades, which tear out less.

Finally, I finish the surface with my scrapers, negating the necessity for tedious sanding. Scrapers are wonderful when properly used, and actually give you a finer, more open surface than sandpaper of any grit could manage.

I always start with the back, and do the top next. But the process is essentially the same.

Stay tuned for my next post, when I'll begin the "graduations," or the carving of the inside of the plates. I took some good pictures, and things went pretty swimmingly, so it should be exciting. That is, if you like that sort of thing.