Violin Forum/Message Board

tkafitz · Member Joined: 24 Oct 2009 Posts: 26 Location: NC

Getting ready to start my first violin from scratch, well wood!! LOL I have made my mold, but have not cut out my corner blocks yet as I am not sure what size to make the cutouts. Does it depend on who you get your wood from and what they cut it or is there a marginal standrd??

Michael Darnton · Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 8:49 pm Post subject:

Take the lower corner blocks as an example. Counting the outline defined by the form and the corner blocks, they only need to go high enough to include the corner (of the block, not the rib or top and back, obviously). Trace horizontally over to the form, in the c-bout, from the tip of the corner block after the corner has been cut, and you will see how high, and how far in, the block needs to be. Do the same in the other direction, transferring the outer limit of the corner block point directly downwards, and you have to point on the outline of the lower bout that indicates where the bottom of the block is.

Does that make sense? If not, I'll do a drawing.
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tkafitz · Member Joined: 24 Oct 2009 Posts: 26 Location: NC

I think I understand it now. Thank you for the reply.

DonLeister · Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 11:11 pm Post subject:

I was just measuring the height of the blocks in a DG mold I have recently made, all I can do is quote from references I have, and the Biddulph book on DG says the blocks are 25mm high, doesn't give a width but I think 13 wide?
I can check my Stradivari mold scans from the Denis book tomorrow.

Are you making a particular model?
for Strad, generally the tips of the corners (blocks) is no higher or further out than where the mortice is cut away from the molds, make sense?

I know I have been struggling a bit to find the right size block mortices for the DG mold I just made, I think I'm getting close to something that looks right, at least compared to my Strad mold. I've been doing Strads for so long, DG looks really strange.

Michael Darnton · Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 12:04 am Post subject:

Yes, del Gesu, he's not all that clear about what he's thinking, sometimes.
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tkafitz · Member Joined: 24 Oct 2009 Posts: 26 Location: NC

I am not asking about the height of the blocks, I am not worried aobut that. I am talking about the area of the mold where the corner blocks glue too that are notched out of the mold for the corner blocks.
As for a model, I am refering to the ole bull plans for reference but just going to make a violn first, then one day try too make an exact copy.
Thanks for the comments though.

rs · Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 8:02 pm Post subject:

Maybe this will help.

http://www.cozio.com/Instrument.aspx?id=251

This is an inside shot of the Strad Soil, unquestionably an instrument I want to copy one day. To enlarge the photo, you must be a member, but the same link shows you where to go in other archives to obtain the same photographs.

Here is the Paganini Strad:
http://www.cozio.com/instrument.aspx?id=48

The problem with corners is that if they are into the mold too far, the corner block's width as a finished product is very broad; not far into the mold makes them a bit more petite in width. I personally think that the Stradivari corner blocks are as wide as any I have ever seen, so this indicates he was into the mold quite a bit. Keep in mind, this is just in comparing Stradivari photos to instruments I have worked on.

The advantage of the wider block is that the internal shape of the overall work is more "hour glass" in nature and hence more graceful. The drawback is that if not cut well tends to be clunky in appearance and give unneeded weight to the instrument. Another demonstration of Stradivari's ability to press dimensions with artistic grace.

Best wishes
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DonLeister · Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 11:31 pm Post subject:

tkafitz "I am not asking about the height of the blocks"

I was referring to the cutouts in the mold, not the height. Facing the mold, the north/south dimension is about 25h. x 13w.
The position of the cutouts , or where the cutout begins relative to the outline, is a good reference as to where the tip of the corner ends, if you see what I mean.

If you can get a copy of The Strad magazine's poster of the Titian strad , it has a ct scan of the rib garland and shows the blocks pretty clearly and relative to the outline, so you can get a sense of how big they should be.

tkafitz · Member Joined: 24 Oct 2009 Posts: 26 Location: NC

Don,
Thanks, sorry if I came off the wrong way. Thank you all for the help and the answers. I am going to have to play around with this and see what I can do. Anyway the pattern I got from Metropolitan seems too make the mold very fat on the bottom and was reading in another post that others have had the same problem. I am going to have to cut down my mold now and then I will worry about other stuff like corner blocks.
Thanks again everyone!!

rs · Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:23 am Post subject:

Don's Titian Strad idea is a good one.

And for a feel what to look for, try Michael's Ethan's Viola at his webwsite. Excellent work.

http://darntonviolins.com/viola.php

Best wishes
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