Now it's time to drill the holes. I use a 1/4" or so drill in my drill press. It is nothing fancy. The bearings aren't great, and there is up and down slop, and it isn't exactly square, (I don't think) but it was $40, and it drills holes. I made up a little post that the plates sit on from stuff I had sitting around, and I set the drill above that. I use 5 mm for violins and violas; I'm using 8 mm for the cello.
It took longer than I thought to drill the holes. The drill press won't reach the middle, but there isn't a whole lot of stock there, and my thickness punch will reach the middle of the plate.
After that it is just hog away at it with planes until the holes dissappear. I still have work to do on it, but there is a good hard hour worth of work there. An hours worth of good work is enough at one time, We watched a goofy movie that we had never seen, "Princess Bride. What a corny movie! Well, we've seen it now! And we had fun watching it, and maybe my joints won't be as sore tomorrow.
Is that red spruce or douglas fir?
ReplyDeleteIt is Sitka. It is very red isn't it? It is not a hard board. The grain changes in a couple of spots; sepecially the widest parts of the lower bout, and the ends. The center is pretty easy to work, although one side is happier going one way, and the other the opposite. Is softer thatn some other sitka I've used; so a sharp scraper is needed, but not as soft as most of the Englemann I've used.
ReplyDeleteIt feels pretty light too; so I'll have to watch the thicknesses, the weight (may need another scale) and tap tones.
ReplyDeletewhen it's nitty-gritty time for tap tones and weight concentrate on the tone mostly and the weight least.
ReplyDelete