DIY Network

Handmade Violin, Part 2: Bending the C-Ribs From "Handmade Music" episode DHMM-201

	A student at Chicago's School of Violin Making.

This episode of DIY's Handmade Music introduces viewers to the students and faculty at the Chicago School of Violin Making where students learn to play -- and build -- stringed instruments patterned after classics by masters like Stradivari and Guarneri.

The students at the school build dozens of instruments each year, and this five-part DIY series gives viewers the opportunity to watch the evolution of just one.

In this second segment the school's co-director, and violin-building expert, Becky Elliott demonstrates the technique for bending wood strips to form the curved "waist" of the violin.

advertisement

Figure A

The first stage of building a violin is to create a rib structure. In the previous segment, Becky Elliott and her students completed the foundation when they glued and shaped six spruce blocks to a temporary form (figure A).

• Now the rib structure begins to take shape with the addition of six thin strips of maple (figure B). The ribs are bent to match the form's shape, and glued to the blocks.

• Student Juan Tamparillas prepares the ribs for bending. The strips are a half-inch wide -- the final width of the violin -- but the walls must be 1.2 millimeters thick. Juan thins the maple first with a plane and then with a cabinet scraper (figure C).

  Figure B

  Figure C

  
  

  	Figure D
  	Figure E

• From there, the school's co-director, and expert violin-maker Becky Elliott takes over to bend the C-Ribs using a specially designed hot-iron.

• To bend straight strips into the curved ribs, Becky works on one curve at a time. She dips the wood strip in water, then applies parchment paper to one side. The parchment layer helps prolong the steam time. Then, using a flexible metal bending-strip, she carefully works the strip around the iron. As she feels the wood "relax," she skillfully manipulates the strip around the hot iron to create the curve (figures D and E).

• After the initial bending, Becky checks the strip against the curve of the form. In some cases she must go back for additional bending and adjusting the shape
  

  Figure F

  
  

• The firm but delicate touch and artisan's instinct required for this technique gives indication as to why it takes three years to graduate from the Chicago School of Violin Making. This is just one of several skills that is mastered only through time and experience.

• After bending six ribs, Becky will be ready to glue them to the form using shaped clamping blocks (figure F).
  

  Jeff Wilson, host of Handmade Music, tries his hand at bending strips of maple to create the C-curve of the violin body.

RESOURCES :

The Art of Violin Making
Authors: Chris Johnson and Roy Courtnall
Published by: Robert Hale & Company (1998)
ISBN: 0709058764
Order this book from Amazon.com.

Violin Making: A Practical Guide
Author: Juliet Barker
Publisher: Crowood Press [UK] (2001)
ISBN: 1861264364
Order this book from Amazon.com.

Violin Making: A Guide for the Amateur
Author: Bruce Ossman
Publisher: Fox Chapel Publishing Company (1998)
ISBN: 1565230914
Order this book from Amazon.com.

Useful Measurements for Violin Makers: A Reference For Shop Use
Author: Henry A Strobel
Publisher: Henry Strobel Publisher (5th edition - July, 1989)
ISBN: 0962067326
Order this book from Amazon.com.

The Violin Makers of the Guarneri Family, 1626-1762
Authors: William Henry Hill, Arthur F. Hill, Hill Alfred Ebsworth
Publisher: Dover Publications; (Reprint edition - October, 1989)
ISBN: 0486260615
Order this book from Amazon.com.

Antonio Stradivari, His Life and Work, 1644-1737
Author: William Henry Hill
Publisher: Dover Publications (2nd edition - June, 1963)
ISBN: 0486204251
Order this book from Amazon.com.

An Encyclopedia of the Violin
Author: Alberto Abraham Bachmann
Publisher: Da Capo Press (March 1975)
ISBN: 0306800047
Order this book from Amazon.com.