Cello based on Antonio Stradivari |
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return to work in progress August 2009 It's lovely to have the chance to make a cello. This time I've chosen a model I've used several times before. It's based on two early Stradivari cellos, one of which I had the good fortune to measure. It's a lovely model; comfortable to play and with a warm and projecting sound.
September 2009
October 2009
When to stop is always the big question when you're thicknessing. Once the bulk of the wood is removed, I start flexing the back and front, tapping the wood, and measuring the weight and thickness. I look for a good balance of weight and flexibility. I'm happy with what I've achieved with this cello - the wood is good and it has been fairly straightforward to find the right balance.
November 2009
I've glued on the front and the cello body is now finished. As I'd expected, the highly figured wood of the back looks fantastic with the matching ribs, and it should only be more striking once the cello is varnished.
Fingerboard fitted, I've then fitted the neck into the cello and shaped it. I spent a lot of time trying to make a really good shape, as this is critical for the playing comfort of the cello.
December 2009
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I've had a
particularly well-figured maple back in my store for some years, and
I've decided that it's really time to use it. Having done the
centre joint and sawn the outline, I've roughed the shape of the arching
from the solid block of wood using a large gouge.
The ribs are even
more beautiful than the back and have proved a real challenge to
bend! Deeply figured wood is always more difficult to bend than
plain wood. The photograph shows the C ribs bent and glued into
place on the mould.
At
the moment I have a student with me for a fortnight's work
experience. Julie comes from near Strasbourg in France, and is
about to start her final year studies at Newark School of
Violinmaking, where I was a student myself. She has been helping
with some of the jobs on the cello, and this picture shows her preparing
the linings which reinforce the joint between the ribs and the back and
front.
I've
started work on the scroll. It's a beautiful design - at once
strong and graceful. Julie prepared the outline of the scroll
block for me, and I'm now carving the side view.
And
now the scroll is finished. The finished rib assembly is in the
background of the picture.
I've
now finished the rough arching and finalised the outlines of the back
and front to follow the ribs.
The
next stage is to fit the purfling. The purfling itself is made of
two strips of pearwood which I dyed black separated by a strip of willow
(which is white in colour) - the three strips are glued together to make
them easier to fit. I cut a channel around the edge of the
back and front the same width as the purfling, then bend the strips to
match the curves, and cut the elegant mitres in the corners. Then
the purfling is glued in place.
Once
the glue is dry, I finish what is called the fluting - the channel that
runs around the edge, giving definition to the edge of the cello.
I use a gouge to take out fine shavings. As well as looking good,
taking wood out here makes the edges of the back and front more flexible
which is helpful for the quality of sound.
The
arching is finished; I've tried to follow Stradivari's principles of
arching, using strong, medium-height archings which should give a
powerful, projecting sound.
The
next job is to hollow out the underside of the back and front to reduce
the wood to the final thickness. On a cello, this is a lot of work
with a big gouge, which produces impressive piles of wood shavings!
Thicknessing
done, I cut the f-holes in the front and give the cello its
"eyes".
After
what seems like weeks of work, the cello is starting to come
together. This I find one of the most exciting parts of making a
cello - the back and front are now thicknessed, vibrating plates rather
than big lumps of wood, and I can take the ribs off the mould ready to
assemble the body. I cut the blocks and linings to their final
shape, and the rib assembly, free of the heavy mould, becomes light and
graceful. I like looking through it to the garden outside my
workshop window - the colour and form of the plants seem to echo the
curves of the ribs - maybe a rather fanciful idea for a Friday afternoon
after a busy week!
The
front is now completely finished - the bass bar fitted inside.
This is a strip of spruce that runs under the C string of the cello, and
helps support the weight of the bridge and to improve the bass of the
instrument.
I've
now glued the back to the ribs, so all is now ready to close the
soundbox by gluing on the front. This is my favourite part of
making a cello - I love it when the separate pieces which took so long
to make start to come together, and for the first time it begins really
to feel like an instrument. 
The
next job is to fit the fingerboard to the neck. This time I have
made a fingerboard without a Romberg - the flat plane that normally runs
under the C string of the cello. This was invented around the turn
of the 19th century by the German cellist Bernhard Romberg, and its
purpose is to allow for more clearance for the C string whilst
maintaining a good bridge curve. In those days players were using
lower-tension gut strings and I imagine the clearance needed for the C
string was greater than it is today with modern strings. I have a
feeling that today the Romberg is not really necessary; a non-Romberg
fingerboard may well feel a bit more comfortable under the hand, so I
thought it worth trying one to gauge the reaction of
players. 
The
cello is now finished "in the white" - cleaned and checked
over so that everything is ready to start the varnishing process.
