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Build Progress for a couple of new “5-string Bluegrass fiddles:”

Last time:

Last post showed the garlands complete, and ready to be leveled:

garlands for two five string fiddles made in Oregon by Chet Bishop — Garlands with linings installed, ready for leveling.

I began the leveling process using a file and a finger plane, until the fragile rib-edges were level with the linings.

garland for five string fiddle made in Oregon by Chet Bishop — Beginning the levelling process.

Then I completed the leveling by rubbing the garland on a sanding board.

five string fiddle in the making — Flattening the garland on a sanding board.

Tracing the plates

Once the garlands were flat, I could use them to trace the outline of the plates: I used a small washer as a tracing tool– as a spacer, to give me the overhang distance I want (3mm.)

tracing the front plate for a 5-string bluegrass fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — Tracing the outline of the plate, using a washer and a ballpoint pen.

overhang for five string fiddle handmade by Chet Bishop In Oregon — Pretty close, I’d say!

Correcting the corners and cutting out the plates

I really don’t want the “round corners ” produced by the washer, but they do give me a starting point from which to correct the corners before cutting out the plates:

corner shapes for 5-string fiddles handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — Corrected corner shapes laid out, on Englemann Spruce, using a straightedge and a circle template.

Douglas fir front plate cut out for 5-string bluegrass fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — Douglas Fir Front plate cut out and ready for arching. Uncommon wood, but good!

two plates for five string fiddles handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — Both plates are ready for arching. I enjoy using Oregon woods when I can.

Arching the plates:

Arching the plates is a critical step, because the arching pretty much controls the tone quality. In fact, it may be the single most inportant factor in achieving good tone. I begin by scribing the edge-thickness of the plates and then I begin removing waste wood to complete the rough arching:

Scribing the edge thickness for a 5-string fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — Scribing the edge thickness for the Douglas Fir front plate.

planing a front plate for a 5-string fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — Rough-arching the Douglas Fir plate, using planes and gouges.

I use arching templates to establish the shape of the arching, and then fair-in the parts in between the templates. (The templates for the back plate are slightly different, but all of these things matter: I have to use them correctly. And, although I can get the arching “close” without the templates, quite honestly, “close” isn’t good enough.)

arching templated for 5-string bluegrass fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — This top is from the previous fiddle, but I used the same templates, so here they are!

Laying out F-holes, and incising them.

After the arching shape is very close to correct, I use templates to lay out the f-hole shapes and locations, and then use a knife to incise the lines deeply, so that I can’t accidentally remove the lines through further shaping.

f-hole layout for five-string fiddles handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — F-holes laid out and incised on both front plates.

Then I refine the arching, using gouges, planes and scrapers, until the shape is exactly what I want.

refining the arching on a 5-string bluegrass fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — Refining the arching on the Englemann Spruce plate.

two plated for 5-string bluegrass fiddles handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — Both front plates ready to begin purfling.

Purfling:

The word “purfling” evidently comes from the old Italian “por filo” meaning edging. It supposedly helps strengthen the edge, and it certainly helps “define” the edge, and…it looks nice. Though there are examples of old intruments without purfling, all of the better “Old Master” makers used it, and I will never make an instrument without it. (Besides…I like it.)

I position the purfling beginning at 4mm inside the outer rim of the plates, and mark the location of both sides of the slot, using a purfling marker (sometimes called a purfling cutter.) The marker won’t work for the corners, so I have to lay them out using a pencil.

Then I use a knife to incise those lines deeply enough to receive the actual purfling strips.

purfling laid out for 5-string bluegrass fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — Beginning purfling slot in Englemann Spruce front plate.

Douglas Fir is much more difficult to incise, because the winter growth rings are very hard.

picking waste wood from the purfling slots on a 5-string fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — Picking waste wood from the purfling slots.

Finally, when the slots are complete, I can begin inserting the actual purfling strips. The strips come as 32″ long three-ply veneers, and are very brittle. I have to use the bending iron to prepare them for insertion into the slots.

plate ready for purfling for a 5-string bluegrass fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — Purfling slot completed in Douglas Fir front plate.

inserting purfling in a 5-string bluegrass fiddle front plate, handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — Ready to insert purfling strips in the Englemann Spruce plate…but not without bending them first!

Purfling, inserted dry, into front plate of 5-string fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — Purfling, inserted dry, on the Englemann Spruce front plate. Ready for hot hide glue!

Gluing the Purfling:

After the purfling strips are correctly fitted, dry, I carefully lift them out, one by one, and slip hot hide glue into the slot beneath each strip, then quickly force the strip back into the slot, ramming it home with a special tool.

When all is complete, I allow the purfling to dry, before moving on to cutting the channel, performing the final edgework, and fairing the channels into the arching…but those are stories for another day. 🙂

Completed purfling for two 5-string bluegrass fiddles handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — Both plates’ purfling complete, still wet from gluing.

Thanks for looking.

More Progress on the first two of Six Fiddles. (8/9/21)