Lutherie 1 TRADE SECRETS | Makers reveal their special techniques Laying out f-holes — part one The first of two articles detailing a method that. Stradivari may have used for making a template BY TORBJORN ZETHELIUS Violin maker and restorer based in Stockholm, Sweden tradivari’s Ehole layout templates have been a subject of interest for makers since they became ‘widely known through Simone Sacconi’s book The Secrets of Sradivari. Sacconi described Stradivar's process of applying the templates co the inside ofthe instrument, but only gave a vague explanation as to how Stradivari had arrived at the correct placem Undead ton «sper evel ein my fi yar of ‘by tial and error. I wanted to violin making school I developed a method based on the geometry that I knew, which was largely about the so-called Golden Section. Luckily it seemed to work and used it throughout my student days and after, until | developed a violin model of my own. By thar stage I had strayed away from the golden mean on to other territory. When I got an apprentice, I dusted off my old method and discovered again how amazingly wel i works Here I present it for the firs rime with illustrations, First trace the outline of the bellyon toa piece of paper, and draw a centre line as ‘measured between the upper and lower bouts. I measure the fulllength ofthe belly and divide it by the golden ratio (1.61803). Then I mark itout fon the centre line twice; frst from one end and then fram the ‘other, so that | have twa golden rears marked Out on te ie ‘Then I find the golden mean between these two points, and ‘markt on the centre line. This point corresponds to =0.528 of the total body length as ‘measured from the talipiece fend, For claritvin this article Ll name these points from the bottom up: A, B,and © (Aand C being the golden ‘means and B: =0:528), > som sommes 65~ 4 TRADE SECRETS # ~ . | ind the widest point on the lower bout and mark it out (On Stradivari’ original design drawing, this should have been a precise location, ata junction between two lines. We ‘can approximate this point by drawing a ine parallel with the centre line, which forms a tangent with the lower bout. Then | mark out another point on the other side of the lower bout. mt G66 rwestan armisote “ostinato rng Secon Thanh be ronal dar Boel fe Mina consul sma, tanond doth tro- 4 TRADE SECRETS ~~ — — ‘template, we need to take into account the rise ofthe arching at this point. This, Js done by means ofa new drawing, | te-draw the horizontal ine which ‘connects the points previously drawn, on to the rib outine, Here I'l call this the baseline, I drawa tracing of the arch, including the plate thickness, on top of the baseline, so thatit shows acut-through view of the ey | arch. (For this step, Stradivari must have = designated an arch height forall instruments . ~~ ‘made on that particular pattern) Efweninn "Next, on the junction between the diagonal and line | extend a vertical line 'e) upwards through the arch. set ‘one leg ofthe compass atthe point where the rib outine crases the base line, and set the other leg atthe point where '¢ protrudes through the outside of the arch, ‘Then | draw an arc from this point so that it crosses the baseline. This arc marks the distance tothe centre ofthe upper ees from the rib outline, arch included, 5 ‘To transfer the upper eyes to the rib 6° trace te arch fromthe lower eye to ros the ach from the base tne. return othe cagram used in gure 4 Lads the compass legs to the diagonal distance between the upper and lower ‘eyes then transfer this lstance onto the rip template by puting one leg of the compassin the lower eye's place ‘on the rib drawing and making an are that crosses the upper eve's ae. Tveankled he etter Pi the manner of Stradivari represents the form that he used in conunction with that particular template The template forlaying ut the holes inStadvarts fashions now completed. The next article wll show the steps for laying out the holes onthe bel <<< NEXT ISSUE “The second part ofthis article G68 rwestmap armisote