THE BELLY.
This is the soundboard of the instrument--that which, I suppose,
vibrates as fourteen to ten as compared with the back--that is to
say, it is recorded that, given equal conditions, such will be the
case. It is that which first receives concussion as the bow strikes
the strings, which shock travels down the upper surface of the gut
from the bridge until the nut at the end of the fingerboard be
reached, when it flies under the said string to the bridge again,
which communicates the shock to the belly, the belly to the back by
soundpost, ribs, neck, scroll, and all about it, to the mass of air
in the body of the violin, when comes what we call tone, and rightly
do we call it so, if pure vibrations have been brought into play,
otherwise noise would be a much safer word to use. Of course, I give
you the above in detail: it will appear to you as though the whole
of the agitations were simultaneous, such is the amazing rapidity
with which all this takes place. And I only give it to show you how
incumbent it is upon you to use every care in all you do when
engaged in this work, more especially that on the upper table. For
no matter how well your back may be gauged, finished, and finally
adjusted; or your ribs, how equally balanced one with another or in
relative proportions with the whole: if your tell-tale soundboard be
defectively wrought, cheeks too much hollowed, or the thicknesses
carelessly seen to, there will be beats in your tone, strings
irregular, weak notes and strong ones, and a general unsatisfactory
result which could easily have been avoided.
But I will get to work on this upper table; and, there being some
interesting features to notice as the panorama of its construction
passes before your eyes, you will do well to let nothing escape your
observation; besides, there is much that is merely a repetition of
the working of the back, and which I omit in letterpress.
The said back, you will remember, was in a whole piece--this belly
is in two pieces, as I intimated under the heading "selection of
wood"; and, as a natural consequence, has to be joined before I can
operate upon it as a whole before you. The manner of preparing the
two half plates for a joint is this:--upon this bench I place what
is called a shooting board--a board, as you may observe, upon which,
near one end, is inserted, right across it from edge to edge, a
piece of wood, square with the length, to serve as a stop against
which I press what it will be convenient to call one half of the
roof of a house, fig. 1, plate 12, lengthwise, which serves to
illustrate one half of the belly, thickest edge, of course, on a
square with the edge running along by where rests a very choice
trying plane, on its side, tool touching this plate, which I hold
with my left hand firmly, whilst I _shoot_ the said plane from end
to end of the half belly, fig. 2, plate 12. This I repeat on the
other half, and then hold them together, flat side towards me, as I
raise the two to a strong light, and if no glimmer whatever creeps
between the joint, then I call the two plates perfectly united, and
ready for the glue to make this absolute. But if they do not appear
as I intimate, then you must operate until this very important part
of your work be strictly that of a perfect whole; for, remember, as
a whole the two parts must remain for as long as the violin holds
together, which may be for two hundred years over and above the
years that shall be given to you who make it; and this alone should
be an incentive to good work.
[Illustration: PLATE XII.]
We now arrive at this joining of the wood for the soundboard, and
the glue to be used must be of the best. Not too thin, but
sufficiently so to drop freely from the brush used, and clear whilst
being tenacious, as felt by pressure between finger and thumb.
As you may observe, I place one half of the wood in the vice of the
bench, and on this, the other half (fig. 3, plate 12). With the hot
glue to my right hand, I take the loose half of the wood in my left,
and hold it against the one fixed in the bench, and upon the two
broad centres or outside edges thus exposed, I work rapidly a good
layer of the glue, and then, placing them on each other again, I
move them very firmly backwards and forwards, and so they are
united, remaining in the bench until set.
My dear friends, it is not to be supposed you will do this
exceedingly difficult piece of business even moderately well at
first; but you will have to do it somehow as a commencement, and I
hope I have made all clear to you. Think the thing well over; see
your way well ahead; and I am quite sure your success will be
commensurate with your endeavour.
From this stage you will have to repeat what was done to the back,
until you reach the cutting out of the groove preparatory to
insertion of the purfling; and I only stop you here to direct your
special attention to one feature of that groove, or, rather, four of
the same character, viz., the corners. These, owing to the soft
nature of the wood, will be difficult for you to cut out clean, so
as to leave the sharp point (so much admired when well done, so much
condemned when ill) clear and distinct; and you must use small sharp
knife, No. 8, to effect this, not taking the gouge, 52, to the
extreme corner when using it near to it, as the pressure would,
without doubt, break it off.
Leaving you with this caution, I shall imagine all done as was the
work on the back up to cutting the groove after purfling, plate 6,
and resume there, for the purpose of warning you that the gouges for
this same work on the soft pine, as opposed to the sycamore, must be
exceptionally sharp, and you _must cut_, and very clean, too, or you
will tear the wood, and go below your level, as I before cautioned
you. More than this I need not say just here, so proceed with the
modelling of the belly, on the former lines gone over for the
development of the back, with this difference, you must only use
coarse sandpaper in the very early stages, and continue the work
over more stages by at least three than on the back; for pine takes
more readily scratches, and takes them deeper, than sycamore; and
more patience in bringing it to a surface like satin, where no trace
of scratch from scraper or sandpaper can be detected under delicate
varnish.
Then you must continue until the finished plate 9 is reached, only,
as I said above, bringing up the surface to a finer state than the
back--not to be called waste of time by you on any account, as you
will soon understand when you come to find out what a heartless
exposer of any frailty is oil varnish.
So at length we come to the hollowing out and to the thicknesses of
the belly.