The Second Rough-Arch

When we last left off, our hero had just completed the first rough-arch of the plates. There is a portion of the process conspicuously missing from the photos, so let me get you up to date. After the first rough-arch, the ledge is routed evenly around the edge of the instrument so that the purfling can be installed. This works really well with a plunge bit. That's not what I had, however, so I had some pretty good tear-out and, not in the mood to take pictures, I made the repair, which involved installing a "wing," or replacing part of the torn-out upper lobe. This was not a good day, but as one of our instructors once told us, there are two things you have to learn about lutherie. The first is that it's a lot of fun. The second is that it's not always a lot of fun.


So over in the bass portion of the upper bout, if you squint really hard, you can see the repair. Don't worry. It will be more visible in subsequent photos (though hopefully sufficiently invisible on the final instrument). Well, now that I've established a 4mm ledge around the rim of the plates, guess what? I get to rough-arch again!





This one doesn't take quite as long because there's less wood to remove, but it does require a bit more finesse. The gouge is no longer being used just to hog away wood; careful attention is now being paid to the actual shape of the arch.

Afterward, I get to spot-glue the plates onto the rib structure.

The mold is still inside at this point, so what you end up with is a really heavy, ugly, badly carved VSO (violin-shaped object). This is different from the final product because the neck is not yet fixed onto the instrument. But this allows me to make sure of two things: that the outside edges are a consistent distance from the ribs, inasmuch as this is possible, and that they are consistent with each other. I also take this time to drill holes through the plates and into the blocks which I can use for locating pins when I have to put the plates back on.

For now, I take them off and prepare to install the purfling...