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Closure and Final Scraping
Graduation complete
When I last posted, I was beginning the graduation process for the back plate of the Titian copy. I had a pretty busy week, but this is where it went:
Once the graduation was complete, I removed the interior form (sometimes called the “mold”) from the garland, and trimmed the blocks and linings, so that the garland and back plate could be joined. I had already flattened the back of the garland, so this was a pretty simple step.
I aligned the plate on the garland as closely as I could, dry, then began applying clamps to hold it. I adjusted the position slightly as I progressed, so that when I finally had clamps on all corners, and in the center of each bout, the position was exactly what I wanted. Then I began removing two or three clamps at a time, and slipping hot hide glue between the plate and the garland, using a thin palette knife. I quickly replaced the few clamps I had removed, and more clamps between them, so that the section was securely attached. Then I moved to the next section and repeated the process, until there was glue and clamps all the way around. I saved the neck block for last, because I intended to add that larger clamp, and it would have been cumbersome, had I used it early in the procedure.
I allowed the glue to dry overnight, and, in the morning, I removed the clamps and began carving the heel, and working on the edges of the back.
Finally, all the surfaces looked right, and the next step will be to remove the fingerboard, and prep the entire corpus for the varnighing process. The Guarneri copy is side-lined for the moment, which is what usually happens when I attempt to make more than one instrument at the same time. I usually get to a certain point on all of them, and then run with one to the finish, and come back for the rest. (Ah, well…at least they do get done.)
Next time, I will either talk about the varnishing preparation process, or I will follow the work on the Guarneri. Probably the varnish-prep. 🙂
Thanks for looking.