Drawing the Outline

The first step in violinmaking is to draw the outline of the instrument.  One can choose to make an exact copy of an existing instrument, make an instrument “based on” or “inspired by” an existing instrument, or make an instrument based on a personal design.  I have decided to build my first instrument based on Stradivari’s PG form, which was used for many of the instruments that Stradivari constructed during his Golden Period.

It is common for violinmakers to trace the outlines of instruments from photos, plans, posters, etc.  Alternatively, the outline can be determined based on tracing the purfling of an existing instrument – the theory being that although the edges become distorted through wear on antique instruments, the purfling remains an accurate representation of the outline. 

For my purposes, and to begin to develop my eye for outlines, I drew the outline of the Stradivari PG form using a pencil and compass using the theories of symmetry and proportion described in François Denis’s book Traité de Lutherie: The Violin and the Art of Measurement (http://www.traitedelutherie.com).

I have spent the last two months studying the Denis book and honing my compass skills.  I began by using the theories that I had learned in the Denis book to draw the first two examples in the book – violins by Andrea Amati and the Amati Brothers.  These drawings were made by using sections of the various magnitudes used in the violin instead of more standards units of measurement, such as millimeters.  As I drew these examples, I strove to not just blindly follow the instructions provided in the book, but to understand why I was doing each step.  I drew each of these examples numerous times, and each time I drew them, more questions were revealed, more research was done, and more answers were uncovered. 

Based on the knowledge that I gained drawing the two example outlines, I set out to draw the “hypothetical” Stradivari outline in the Denis book, which the author derived from the averages of the dimensions of the various Stradivari forms. The hypothetical Stradivari outline was also drawn using the Cremonese measurement of points (3.5mm per Point) instead of using sections of magnitudes as was done in the Andrea Amati and Amati Brothers outlines.  Drawing this hypothetical Stradivari outline led to several more rounds of questions and further research on the various Stradivari outlines.

I then set out to use the principles that I had learned to draw the Stradivari PG form that would be used for my first violin.  In doing so, I had the benefit of the photograph of the PG form in Stewart Pollens’s book The Violin Forms of Antonio Stradivari and the scan of the PG form that is included with the Denis book.  After several attempts, I drew the following outline that will be used for the form of my first violin:

  

Once the outline was completed, I transferred it to a transparent mylar film to be used to make the mold.  On the mylar, I also drew a rough outline of the outline of the instrument, although the overhang in these drawings is a bit too wide and the corners are unrefined at this point.  As you can see from the pictures below, my form outline, when placed over the Denis scan of the actual Stradivari PG form, is very accurate.

With the outline drawn, I will begin preparing the inside mold and related templates, which will be the subject of my next post.