What a mould needs

I've had some problems. Nothing earth shattering, but they've really slowed things down. They are all related to the mould. The biggest problem is gluing the blocks. I've usually solved them by gluing pieces on the top of the mould on to the sides of the blocks on both sides. It works good. That is what I did on the Montagnana mould from the start. It keeps the block from rocking at all. The del Gesu didn't have it, and it had plywood pieces that I glued in as a gluing surface for the blocks.

Bad idea number one.

While gluing on the first c-bout the block broke off. It didn't break off at the glue line, the plywood delaminated! That put a halt on that for a while. Then it happened again on another block. So I peeled the plywood off and used some scrap pieces of wood. Then I re-glued the blocks. I had one small piece of rosewood or something, and the glue didn't stick to the block with that the first time while trying the glue the c-bouts again. More delays. Then a piece of 1/8" hardboard that I used to get the spacing right split in half just like the plywood did! I finally got the c-bouts glued.

Now the other one is fine right? Sort of. The c-bouts glued nicely. The lower bouts glued nicely, and the seam at the bottom looked OK. I started working on the upper bouts. To hold it in the vice I put a piece of wood on each side of the mould, so the vice wouldn't hit the ribs. I didn't have squared up pieces of wood, they were wedged, and while twisting the rods to tighten the twine, the mold shifted in the vise, and one of the lower ribs cracked. Now I have to make up another rib.

Bad idea number two.

You can see the stock for the replacement rib under the del Gesu mould in the other photo.

I am going to square up, or cut up some dimensioned wood to use as vice spacers. Besides that, I will screw them together through the hole that is near the upper, and lower blocks. Then there will be no possibility of the blocks shifting.

A lot of problems for just gluing up a rib cage.

Don't use wedges like this as spacers in your vise!

Organization

I have the workbench areas organized now. I still need to figure out how to handle drawings better, and storing moulds too, but it's not too bad. This morning I cut some 3/4" dowel into 10 mm or so slices, and put them in the dog holes. I didn't like the idea of the chips and dust falling right on the cabinet top.

I'm using that area to store whatever I'm working on at the moment, and my calipers, little clamps for linings and stuff, and a tray with sharpening stones. Things I might need while working. Also the brush to sweep the bench off with. I don't mind sweeping the floor, but I don't want that area on the bench getting full of chips.

I have the drawers set up with things I use the most. Top drawer: gouges, I use the 3 on the right (old chisels) and the 1" incannel (2nd from the left) more than any others. The left one is a very useful scraper.

Next down are the chisels, scrapers, scale, and a few other things.

Next drawer has my files, knives, and trusty chain. I like to keep it on the little piece of plastic so it doesn't get lost.

The bottom drawer has my little planes, and some other stuff. I plan on making a scrub plane, and a cello sized version of the nice Lie Nielson plane I do most of my roughing with.

I wanted everything I might need close by, so I hung my saws, drill, and hammer on the sides:

We bought a shelving unit yesterday to store wood on. I have the cello wood on the second shelf, block wood, and miscellaneous pieces on the top, mostly viola backs and ribstock on the next one down, and stock that could be used for necks on the almost empty one. Nothing for violins and no spruce at all.

Moving the block wood and other pieces from my other bench freed it up; it was really jam packed. I have boxes that can house the wood for a violin or viola, and stock for fingerboards and fittings, and clamps and things for gluing up the ribcages. Now I can pull the boxes out easily. Right now there are 3 violins, and 2 violas in the boxes. The bench is used for glueing blocks on the moulds to keep them flat, for varnishing, and the plans are under the glass for referral.

Now, can I keep it like that?

New Workbench

We picked up the new workbench on Wednesday. A few screws, and some glue and it is done. The workmate can still be used for using the thicknessing punch that is clamped to it now, or the thickness gauge, or maybe something else. Here is the before:

I bought some cork covered foam board to make up drawer liners to keep the tools organized in the drawers, and keep them from banging around when the drawers are open. I have the black rubbery stuff in my machinist box, but I've never been that impressed by it. When I finish up a drawer I give you a peek. Anyway, here is what it looks like now:

The cello wood fits nicely on it, with room for a violin on the other end. I don't know what, if anything people put on their benches. Any ideas? I know you don't want something that makes a coating that can peel or wear; but what about oil, or something? It will probably take a few days to figure out how I want things set up, and I might change my mind, but it shouldn't be too long before I start working on it.