Violin Forum/Message Board

kel · Member Joined: 20 Oct 2008 Posts: 73 Location: Asia

i m planing 2 pieces of spruce and to join them
ideally the sides should be planned to a perfect straight and flat surface before gluing

what i've got now, the sides after planing , visually fit for gluing.
If spot light is used to detect irregularity, still find fine rays of lights through the planned edges put together

question is : to what extent should the sides be planned?, need to be absolutely straight and flat?
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Newbie Maker Kelvin

kel · Member Joined: 20 Oct 2008 Posts: 73 Location: Asia

today start the work on my 1st violin

bought some clamps, planes, gouge

plane the edge of spruce to prepare for joining, need lot of time to make it straight and flat, not yet successful right now

try to hollow a bit the back with gouge, the back wood is really hard
anyone use only bare hands with gouge to hollow?
i hollow the back a bit with hammer and gouge

conclusion : nice and fun
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Newbie Maker Kelvin

violinarius · Member Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 171

Mark Sullivan · Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 9:02 am Post subject:

There is some good information in this thread.
http://www.violins.ca/forums/viewtopic.php?t=250&highlight=joint

kel · Member Joined: 20 Oct 2008 Posts: 73 Location: Asia

Thanks for reminding me the good friend in forum : "Search"

after reading the threads,
my conclusion is : the job is difficult and challenging and rewarding

as a newbie, i enjoy this first challenge, i don't mind to spend hours or days to conquer it
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Newbie Maker Kelvin

Tim McTigue · Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 11:57 am Post subject:

Dave Chandler · Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 10:43 pm Post subject: planing

I spend a lot of time sharpening my plane, checking that the blade edge is perfectly square and straight, then I hone it, and then strop it. It must take hair off my arm without taking flakes of skin.

Take a spare piece of pine or spruce, make sure you're getting neat almost transparent shavings across the entire blade so you know you have it set it up nice and flat. I clamp both pieces together and plane them at the same time -- this way their combined angles later still equal 180 degrees. Otherwise, you're fighting to match the pieces both lenthwise, and crosswise. My final strokes are without any pressure at all, letting the blade find where it needs to take more out. Be careful of the grain runout, don't run against it or you'll tear out small slivers that will leave small gaps that will show later when you've got it graduated, then its too late.

I don't use gouges as I find them difficult to control (and I don't have a decent set anyway), so I use planes to carve my top inside and out. It's slower, but easier for me. It does mean a lot of rehoning, and I use about 4 sizes of ibex planes mostly with curved blades. I wear some of those cheap cotton garden gloves with the rubber palm and fingers, helps me from getting blisters. Maybe someday I'll splurge and get one of those nice japanese fishtail style gouges.
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Dave in the Blue Ridge
Southern Violin Association

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm" Winston Churchill

"I took the road less travelled, and now I don't know where I am." Marco Polo

Jack H. · Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 2:17 am Post subject:

Kel,

To get a perfect center joint it needs to be DEAD FLAT. to achieve this you need an incredibly sharp plane. The blade itself must also be very flat at the edge.
After you have gotten it to mostly where it should be, reduce the depth of the cut to a minimum and then take another pass or two. you should only take off the small high spots.

A top quality straight edge is also a must!

kel · Member Joined: 20 Oct 2008 Posts: 73 Location: Asia

any comment on the use of electric planner, i am rather interested on its capability to plane a depth of 0.1mm
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Newbie Maker Kelvin

Jack H. · Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2008 11:41 am Post subject:

an electric planer might be fine for guitar tops and furniture.
but it leaves very small ridges and hollows.
Leave it to the carpenters.
What you need to do is get a nice straight edge and a very sharp plane ( invest in a good grinder and some very good Japanese water stones.
Learn how to sharpen adn adjust your plane and it will go fine!

Geemac · Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2008 12:53 pm Post subject: joining lumber

I use a jointer with good success. You must be careful to set it just right and run a few practise passes with scrap wood to check for trueness.
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GeeMac

violinarius · Member Joined: 14 Dec 2007 Posts: 171

Jack H. · Posted: Sun Nov 09, 2008 4:35 am Post subject: Re: joining lumber

kel · Member Joined: 20 Oct 2008 Posts: 73 Location: Asia

i'd assume the topic touches many makers' nerve

i can plane the wood to a 95% flat
but with a straight steel ruler and hold it up to light
i can tell it is not dead flat
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Newbie Maker Kelvin

M.Lange · Member Joined: 30 Apr 2008 Posts: 81 Location: Germany

Getting it dead flat is very easy, with a perfectly set up plane, but nearly impossible with a bad plane.
So the first things you should check are:

1. Is the sole dead flat? If not, sand it on sandpaper, that is glued onto a flat surface. For example a glass plate. The blade should be clamped, but not sticking out of the sole.
2. Is the frog accurately machined, so that the blade is well supported and can't vibrate?
3. Is the blade sharp enough?
4. Is the blade adjusted well enough to take of very thin shavings?

Then you have to practice the right technique:
Push the front of your plane down on the wood and push the plane forward with your other hand. As the plane starts cutting, slowly shift the pressure to your other hand, so that the main pressure at the end of the cut is exerted by your back hand.

You can clamp a strip of wood ( that is longer than the top/back) to the side of the top/back to prevent you from tilting the plane down on the end of the cut.

Matthias