Gluing the rib corners

Here is a photo I promised a while back. It shows the method I use to clamp the ribs while gluing them on the blocks. I have holes drilled in the mold that hold a dowel. They are situated so that when some cord, or twine like I have here, is wrapped around the dowel, over the clamping block, and around the dowel on the other side, the clamping pressure pushes the rib in place. That sentence is too long. That's why they say a picture is worth a thousand words! The picture tells it much more eloquently. I use small drills to twist each side of the cord until it is tight. Then sit it aside until the next day. It is a very simple clamp. It is not hard to imagine Stradivarius doing it the same way.
I tried the other day to bend the c bout ribs for the last violin that needs a ribcage. Those were the ones I made inline with the medulary rays. The red maple stock is much more flamed than other ribs I've bent. The other red maple ones for the violin in the photo that I just glued up didn't give me too much trouble. These ones were nasty. I had a hard time keeping the back side from splitting. Thought I had the iron hot. Thought I had it pulled tight with the band. Thought I had the back side wet enough so it would steam and relax. I thought wrong. I never had so much trouble. Luckily I have more stock if I run out of strips I've already cut and thinned to 1.2mm. Maybe I need to double check the thickness. Maybe there are some thick spots. Maybe 1.0mm would be better.
Some of you may notice I glued the corners before the bottom joint. This was on purpose. I thought I'd try it that way this time. Once I had one ribs slightly on an angle and had to move it to get it to fit on the corner block. Another time I thought I had it good and the bottom joint on one side must have moved while gluing the corner block. I figure this way neither one of those things will happen. The last couple I had long enough ribs stock I used a one piece rib on the bottom. The way to go for sure. I let you know how this new method works.

Back up a little

Most violin makers begin with the mold and ribcage. I showed my mold before, but didn't explain how it works. Here is my PG mold and the plates I've already made to fit it. The plywood outline of the mold is made so that when the ribs are bent around them they will be 2.5mm - 3mm inside the desired outline. The blocks are the gluing points for the ribs, and the neck, and the support for the end pin. The aluminum template is the outline showing the corner and end block shape. There are two reamed holes in the mold that line up with the reamed holes in the template. That is how the mold is made, so it is somewhat symmetrical. It also allows the maker to mark out the corner and end blocks. Without a template the corners would be hard to make anywheres near the way the design called for. I go around the template, re-positioning it 4 times to get the blocks marked out. Then I use a gouge, chisel and file to get the blocks shaped to both sides of the line. That way the ribs have a decent chance of being square. Now I'm ready to glue the c-bouts on. First I'll have to bend them.
The belly wood on this one has a lot of bear claw on it, but the photo doesn't bring it out. Hopefully my varnish will make it stand out. The back still needs the purfling put in and the edge finished. I tap the plates to get a rough idea of the stiffness. Since I've never flexed a "real" violin back or belly I have no idea what it should be. Not being taught by anyone I don't even have the luxury of the teacher telling me, "still too stiff". There is a formula to come up with a "stiffness number". It is frequency squared time the weight in grams. The frequency is the ring mode, or mode 5 of the plate. I measure that by placing the plate on a piece of foam and tapping in the middle. The belly on this one is 330hertz with the f holes cut and the bass bar in. With a weight of 61g the number is 6.6. The back is 120g, but will probably lose some. With a frequency of 311hertz the number is 11.6. According to the plate stiffness figures on the platetuning.org website the back is about right, but the belly is too wimpy, should be closer to 8. It doesn't seem whimpy, will have to see about that when it is glued together. Any thoughts out there on these numbers, or on this method? Any help or information would be appreciated.

Back in the groove

Well I'm back to work. At work and in the basement. I thought I would have more time to work on violins going back to my old job, but we're working weekends there too. Either you're laid off, or working overtime. I did get the purfling grooves cut, except for the corners, on the birch violin. And I cut out another set of ribs for the slab Sugar Maple one that I never made ribs for. The mold for that one is the same as the Birch one, I based it on the Viotti poster I have, the PG mold. The newest one is based on the Titan, the P mold. Not to say that my molds are the same as Mr. Tony's, but just that they are different, and "supposed" to be like the P and PG molds.
I bought a replacement blade for my Japanese Ryoba saw. Made a big difference. I cut a 2mm thick piece that was wide enough for 3 ribs in about half an hour. And it was fairly flat. After cutting them to the width it took about another half an hour to get them planed and scraped to 1.2mm or so thick. An hour to get a set of ribs ready to bend. I don't think that is too bad. These ones I made sure I cut them inline with the medular rays. Some people on line say that it may make the ribs stiffer. I'd like something that makes them as easy to bend as a wet noodle, but I haven't seen anything about that.
I have thought about getting one of those electric heaters for the bending iron. The heat gun just doesn't get as hot as I would like. I drilled two holes in the base of my bending iron and bolted it to the table. That helps it a lot. I don't have to worry about flying backwards if the clamps let loose! So I need to bend and glue some ribs up, and finish up the purfling on all the plates so I can start doing some tuning. That should be fun. On the photo you can see that I put some thinned glue all around the edge before cutting the groove. Never did that before. It helps prevent chunks from coming out of the groove when you clean it out. Seems to work.

Ready for the Purfling

Ready to cut the purfling groove now, on the Birch one that is. The outlines are done and the corners look OK. My home made purfling marker is in the picture as well. I got the design from a neat book called Making Stringed Instruments, a Workshop Guide, by George Buchanan. It's a no nonsense, get in there and do it book, that is not pretentious, bogged down with rules, or mired with measurements. It's probably also why I haven't "sweated the details" like violin makers are supposed to do. The marking gauge is extra long, so it will work for cellos as well, and is meant to be used when the instrument is assembled. With a sharp blade, and a light touch, it does a good job, and the measurement from the edge stays the same from start to finish. When I started making violins I was under the mistaken impression that the purfling groove was directly over the ribs, but I also thought the overhang was 3.5-4mm, not approx 2.5mm. I would adjust my marker to whatever my overhang was for the outside edge of the purfling. Now putting the marker at 4.5mm or so for the outside edge seems like a long ways in. I guess it gives me more room for a "real" edge treatment, that is to say, one with a plan.
I've been feeling really good the last few days. The remnants of the accident are a distant memory, even with the gloomy weather. In another week or so I will be back to work so I'll have to enjoy the time off any way I can. I think I will use the form I used for the Birch violin to make a set of ribs for the plates I have that are already cut to the finished outline. I don't know why I did that, they are a couple years old, but it will be a challenge to make a ribcage to fit finished plates. Usually I left them a little larger than the outline. I have another painting I want to do, but the weather hasn't cooperated so I can take a photo with the sun shining from the right spot. That painting has more experimental techniques in it like the last one. Nothing really new, just stuff I've never tried. In school we used different kinds of washes, and dry brush techniques, but that was about it.

My latest projects

Since I can't bend violin ribs right now I've looked for other easier projects. I bought a few watercolor paints to replace some that were used up and made up this sketch of a piece of a larger painting I might do. It's basically my back yard... the grass, shadow, trees in the back and the cottonwood, combined with my front yard... the sumac and the aspen clump. Nothing is that colorful yet, but it will be. I tried a few techniques I hadn't done before, some worked out better than others. I don't mind trying out something new on a small sheet like that instead of a $8.00 full sheet. I'm so cheap!
To do a little violin stuff I knocked the ribs of my birch violin off the form, and glued the corners and end blocks on to the plates to finalize their outlines. I haven't quite finished up the corners. Then I'll have to order some purfling, I'm all out. International Violin sent me 3 extra free sets when I placed my first order with them. Guess who I'm placing my next order with. I use pins top and bottom like the old masters did. Getting a small drill press for this might be a good idea, both of the holes are on big angles. If I don't watch it, my hole will come out through the ribs! This kind of work I can do without getting sore, or hurting my back. I cut my purfling groove out by hand with a marker, a knife and a groove clearing tool. I have to watch what I do because it is so easy to go deep on the sides, where the knife slips in the grain right through the plate, and just as easy to go too shallow on the top and bottom. Several (slow learner?) of my instruments have had the purfling ripped out on the ends while putting the recurve in there. Maybe after that I can cut the f holes, put in a bass bar and start tuning it some.
The weather has been so gloomy and wet, with the exception of the other day when it was near 90 and sunny. It would be easy to let the weather, and the fact that you can't do much, put you in a bad mood. I try not to let anything get me down. While in the hospital after the accident I was joking with my wife. God puts you through trials that don't make much sense to you at the time, but maybe later in your life you may see that you learned a valuable lesson.

Confession

The title says it all. I had a gag order imposed the last three weeks. Our daughter was expecting twins at any time three weeks ago yesterday, the day my wife and I were in a car accident. We were both taken to the hospital for a "23hr observation", and then sent home for our recovery. We just couldn't tell our daughter since she lives 2000 miles away, and all it would do is upset her. Then 8 days later the twins were born, but we still couldn't say anything, don't want to rain on their parade. Last night I finally told her, she said she's so mad at us. I told here she'll get over it.

I don't remember the accident at all. I remember seeing a group of cars, a space, then a group of cars on the 4 lane divided highway I was crossing. Then I was asleep dreaming. I woke up on the other side of the highway on a lawn, sitting in the passenger seat with the keys in my hand. My wife was sitting on the ground outside the open passenger door, and many people were milling around. Someone from work, I was only a block away, told me to just sit back down, help would be there soon. Just sit back down? I hadn't gone anywhere, I just woke up! I kept saying that it was so strange, and I didn't know how I got there. I must have fell back asleep because the next thing I remember was getting in the ambulance, and someone asking me a bunch of questions.

After cat scans and "observation" they found that I had compression fractures of the 2-5 vertebrae, and my wife had a pelvic fracture. Nothing they can do for either but wait for them to heal. We're still not 100%, but can at least get around. We just picked up a new (used) car the other day. That took a lot of time and energy to find. Probably in 2-3 weeks I'll be back to work at the job I just got called back to and only worked 2 days before the accident.

There are some things that "don't make sense". How did I get in the passenger seat, with the keys in my hand, when I was asleep? The obvious answer is the hand of God.
In this case I believe it was the hands of angels of God. Four small angels with gold or silver cables lifted me out of my seat, moved me to the passenger seat, straightened my back out, and put the keys in my hand. Sounds far fetched? It is written that you should have faith like a child. A child would have no problem believing that. I have no other explanation. Things that don't make sense to us in our human realm, make perfect sense in the spiritual realm.
From the Jars of Clay song:
They say that I can move the mountain
and send it crashing to the sea.
They say that I can walk on water,
If I would follow and believe,
With faith like a child.

It's been a long time since I've written anything here. Been a long time since I've worked on the violin. Seems like I've been real busy. I need to finish the rib cage up on the maple Strad. I also have a birch Strad ribcage ready to take off the form, and another set of plates for a Strad that needs a ribcage as well. That one I needed some maple for ribs. I have that now, but both of my saws are way too dull. I don't know if I'll get a replacement blade, or a handmade one where the teeth aren't induction hardened, that way they can be sharpened when they start to get dull, and won't (maybe) break off when I hit the metal vise. I may get them all ready for tuning and see what kind of consistencies, or inconsistencies I have in the three.

The picture is the background on our computer. You can use it as a test. If all you see is trees, with the sky peeking through, maybe your missing something. If you were there, laying on the ground looking up at that scene, and all you see is trees, maybe you need to place God a little higher in your priorities. God is with us all the time, but we tend to think about Him only in a church or in times of need. God wants to "be your everything" and be a part in you entire life, not just a few hours a week. The blessings in your life are just that... blessings. They don't come from you, or by accident. Look up in the sky and think about that.