The glasspaper filing must be continued for some time and with several finer degrees until the surface appears perfectly even and seemingly quite finished, but the stages are not yet complete.
CHAPTER VII.
FINISHING THE FINGERBOARD—FIXING THE NUT—SIZE AND POSITION OF GROOVES FOR THE STRINGS—FILING DOWN THE GRAFT—SMOOTHING, COLOURING, AND VARNISHING SAME.
We now turn our attention to the finish of the fingerboard, which must have its sides attended to for appearing in good trim. For making a nicely worked surface each side, some preparations will have to be made. Firstly, the nut having been cut to the width, or nearly so, of the narrowest end of the fingerboard and glued into position, it will have to be filed down to the height at which it is to remain above the end. The arching will have to be higher in the centre than at each side, in order that when the strings are drawn over tightly, the thickest, or D string, shall have more room to swing than the thinnest, or E. The arching will thus be unequal, the lowest part being at E, next a rise sufficiently for the A, then a further rise for the D, and afterwards a drop again to a little higher than the A; this will be enough for the swing of the G. The grooves for each of these strings must follow in the same order. They will not be equi-distant in one sense, as that would cause them to appear unequal when the strain is on them.
Probably the best way of securing a uniform appearance and the easiest, after one good result, is to cut a metal template with a spike at the central point or middle of where the string is to rest. These points will be found unequal when pricked on to the surface of the nut. A very small, round file should now be used carefully with the run of the fingerboard, or the strings when wound up will look as if pulled aside out of the straight line. The file must be placed exactly on the spot that has been pricked and worked backward and forward as indicated. The ruts must be examined frequently for ascertaining whether they are sufficiently deep. The height of each rut above the fingerboard cannot well be given in fractions of an inch, as they must be regulated to the convenience of the performer. A hard, rasping, orchestral player, with a heavy, unsympathetic bow arm, will require the ruts higher above the board than a soloist of refined taste. The relative heights, one with another, must be the same in both cases. When the ruts are finished, recourse must be had to the glasspaper file again to round the top surface of the nut with an inclination downwards toward the peg-box. This is an arrangement requiring care, as, when the nut is level with the fingerboard, there is danger of the strings jarring. When finished sufficiently even the ruts may require a little further attention, as it is difficult to at once complete them. The two parts are perhaps best worked one with another, neither being finished off in one working and left.
We may now proceed to the further progress of the sides of the fingerboard; this, of course, can only be done when all is settled about the nut, this part requiring to be a continuation, notwithstanding the rise upward of the line from end to end. Preparation must be made for guarding the upper table of the violin from injury, from slips of the glasspaper file during the backward and forward movement. A good way to prevent this is to make a millboard or thick brown paper shield with a part cut away to allow the neck to have a hold. By putting this over the upper table and underneath the fingerboard a part will project forward on each side of the neck; it must be held in position by one hand, while the other holds the paper file, which will be worked along the sides of the fingerboard, at the same time being held nearly vertical. After some little time the part where the ebony joins the graft will appear worked down quite smooth, some finer degrees of the paper will reduce the surface to almost a polish. The nut receiving a part of the working will now present an appearance—as regards form only—of having been left from a reduction of the fingerboard stopping short at a straight line.
This part now, if the fitting of the fingerboard to the graft has been neatly done, will show no line of glue or joint, but simply the difference of material. The upper edges of the ebony may be rounded down along to the end, but less at the lowest.
The whole affair, however, is not yet complete, as the surface to be varnished must be made ready for it. If left in the present condition, players who are very fastidious would be complaining of the work not standing well or deteriorating under use. The cause of this deterioration will be that the moisture from the hand in using this part of the instrument in the raw state makes the grain swell as if wetted; this would occur to some extent even if fully varnished. This must therefore be anticipated by passing a soft, fully haired and wetted brush, or damp sponge, over the whole of the new work. When dry the whole surface will appear rough, or if of soft texture, somewhat corrugated; this must again be levelled down with some of the finest glasspaper, great care being taken that all the parts, and angles especially, are worked over. If the corners are not equally attended to with the rest—and to do this properly the angle of the steel scraper may be used with good effect—there will be a roughness at the part over which the varnish will settle, become rough when dry, and give the appearance of untidy corners. If the scraper with right angles is insufficient to clear the corner satisfactorily, one with a rather acute angle will be found to do the work; it must be sharp, and gently used (or ridges small, large, or both, will become evident), working across first one way then the other until the appearance is quite up to the exactions and desire of the eye.
Another wetting will be of some further benefit for a good and lasting surface. When dry the roughness will not be so obtrusive as in the first instance, and the application of the finest grain of glasspaper, or a piece that has been under use for some time and got a little stale will give the desired surface. The action of the glasspaper over the surface should be continued for some time, until there being less and less powder routed up the surface, it assumes a polished appearance, and if the whole work is well done it will suggest a kind of finish that looks too good to spoil by covering up with varnish. But the latter is a necessity; if not really varnish in the usual sense of the term, a substitute must be used, and here we touch a little upon the confines of fashion or individual fancy.