Week 18 - Finishing the Bass Bar and Assembly

January 15 - 19

The bass bar was the focus of the first half of the week. The best way to ensure it is sitting perfectly is to chalk the area where it will be glued inside the top.

When placed in the correct position, the underside of the bass bar will pick up chalk in areas that need to be further trimmed down. The trimming is done mostly with a sharp scraper. One has to be very patient; it is a slow job where sometimes things get worse before they get better. I won’t pretend I didn’t have moments of enormous frustration. When correctly fitted, there is no space at all showing anywhere around the contour of the bar where it is in contact with the top; it fits very snugly. At that point, it is glued and clamped.

Next, it gets trimmed and shaped using finger planes and files. The holding cleats are removed. I worked on the bass bar for 3 days and was happy with my final fit and shape.

Why that shape exactly? Well… if you want to read more about the art and science of bass bars, here is a nice article.

Next, the rib structure is permanently glued to the back.

After it had been clamped overnight, I spent a couple of hours cleaning off any excess glue with a hard, damp paint brush and a scraper.

Then, any last bit of trimming and clean-up of the inside is done.

After the clean-up, gelatin (yes - the kind used in cooking) is applied to the interior with a paint brush to seal the wood. Some makers use thin hide glue or shellac. I also chose to glue on small paper cleats on the seams for a bit of additional reinforcement. Not everyone does this; it’s an optional step. Seemed like a good idea to me and it looks kind of neat. And, of course, the all important maker’s label has to be glued in, placed so that it can easily be read through the f hole.

Above, you can also faintly see that I have marked the approximate spot where the sound post will go. One foot of the bridge will sit above the bass bar and one will sit over the sound post.

Next, Chris helped me glue the top on. It’s a lot easier to line everything up and get the clamps on with with two people.

And finally, the reveal! Though I seem to have a rather skeptical look on my face, this was a very exciting step. I see areas that I know I can improve upon with my next violin but I was happy with the result. It makes a beautiful sound when tapped on.

The next step is to make the neck with a scroll. I will start on that next week.

Michael Duschenes is a student at the Canadian Violin Making Institute