11/5/2015

TopographicalGenerationofPlateArches

ThefollowingarticleappearedintheApril,1993,Bulletin.Antonio"Tony"Rizzoisaretired
aerospaceengineerfromTorrance,California,andhasbeenaSCAVMmembersince1989.Heisour
presidentfortheyear2001.HehasaWebsiteatwww.arviolins.com.

METHODFORTOPOGRAPHICGENERATIONOFPLATEARCHES
byAntonioRizzo
Theobjectiveistodevelopatopographicmapofaplate(toporback)fromcrosssectionalviewsof
thearch,ontheplanviewoftheplate.Oncedeveloped,eachplateauofthetopographycanbecomea
templateforaccuratereplicationwithoutpantographicmeans.
Idon'tconsiderthisanovelapproach.I'msuremanyvariationsofthisschemehavebeendonebefore.
Forbetterorworse,hereisthewayIdoit.
Let'sreviewthearchesfromSacconi'sSecretsofStradivari:
Ifwehadaplatethatwewantedtomap,wecouldsetupaheightgaugetoaspecificheightrelativeto
theplategluingsurfaceanddraworestablishaparallelplaneontheplatewhichinaplanviewwill
showasanoutlineforthatparticularelevation.
Incrementallyraisingorloweringtheheightgaugewillestablishparallelplanes.Aninfinitenumber
ofplanescouldbeestablished,however,fromapracticalsense,twomillimeterincrementswill
generateenoughplateausforreasonableaccuracy.
Nowletstakecrosssectionsatthefive(quinte)locationsasSacconidid,andacrosssectionofthe
longitudinalcenterline.Fromthecenterlineintheplanview,ataquintelocation,measurethedistance
tothetopographiclineforaparticularplane,andtransferthatpointtothequintecrosssectiononthat
correspondingplane.Afterallpointsareplottedfromallplanes,connectthepointswithaFrench
curveandthearchforthatcrosssectioniscomplete.Repeatthisstepforallquintecrosssections.
ItappearsthatthismayhavebeenthemethodusedbySacconiincopyingtheStradivariGmodel
violininhisbook(alongwithaviolaandcello).
SomuchforSacconi.
Nowlet'sassumetheoppositewhichweoftenseeinStradmagazinepostersorpurchasedplansfor
instruments,whereonlythequintetemplatesandlongitudinaltemplatearchesareshownalongwith
theplateoutlineandwithnotopography.Establishingatopographicmapcouldsimplifyanaccurate
reproductionofaparticularinstrumentplate.
Tobeginwith,wemusthavesomeconfidencethatthecurvesofthearchesprovidedwerereproduced
accurately.Drawortracetheoutlineoftheplateasaplanview,andthefivetransversecrosssections
andthelongitudinalcrosssectioninviewswhichcanbeprojectedoneachotherorsuperimposed.We
cannowbegintoestablishcorrespondingplanesoneachcrosssection.Wheretheseplanesintersect
thearchisthepointthatwillbeprojectedortransferredtotheplanview.Accuracyhereisimportant
indeterminingtheexactpointofintersectwhentheslopeofthecurveandtheintersectingplaneform
ashallowangle.
Thelowestplanecouldbe(onaviolin)fivemillimetersupfromtheplategluingsurface.Thiswould
providematerialforthefourcorners.Eachplaneabovethisplanecouldbesetattwomillimetersapart
uptothehighestarchdimension.
Projectallpointsfromeachcrosssectionarchtotheircorrespondinglineintheplanview.Wenow
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havepointslocatedoneachquinte
lineiswheresomeguessworkcomes
in,interpolatingthetopographical
profilebetweenpointswithaFrench
curve,andonthelongitudinal
centerline.
Herewhichwhencomparedwiththe
adjacentprofilewillproducea
contiguoussmoothflowingcurveat
anygivencrosssection.Connectall
thepointsoneachplanetoformthe
outlineofeachplateau.Themapis
nowcomplete.
Haveaplatereadytobearched,
withathicknessclosetothe
dimensionofthearchheight.
Usingthetopographiclayoutofthe
plate,makeatemplateforeach
elevation.Templatescanbemade
fromaluminumorplasticsheet
stock,1/16"or1/8"thick.Drilla
1/8"diametertoolingholeatthe
centeroftheupperandlowerbouts
oneachtemplate.Toassurethatthe
holecenterdistanceisalikewith
eachtemplate,stackallthe
templatesalignedwitheachotheranddrillthroughthestack.Templatesthatarelongitudinallyshorter
thanthetoolingholecenterdistanceshouldbepinnedwithaseparatesetofholes.
Makearectangularplatenfrom3/4"plywood,afewincheslargerinsizethantheplate.Froma
template,transferthetwotoolingholesonthecenterlineoftheplatetobearchedandtotheplaten.
Theholesintheplateshouldnotbedeeperthanfivemillimeters(whichcanlaterbegougedoutwhen
graduating).Theholesintheplatenshouldbedrilledthrough.Install1/8"diameterdowelpins(steel
orbrass)intotheplatenwith1/16"projectingthroughthebottomside.
Bondorscrewinplacefourfeettothebottomsideoftheplatenateachcorner.Thefeetshouldbethe
samethicknessasthetemplates.Infact,thesamematerialcanbeused.Thefeetwillpreventthe
platenfromtiltingwhenasmalltemplateisbeingused.
Setupadrillpresswithalargeplywoodtableextensionfastenedtothedrillpresstable.Drillfor,and
installa1/2"diameterguidepincenteredwiththedrillpressspindle.Thepinshouldprotrudenomore
thanthethicknessofthetemplates.Chucka1/2"diameterrouterbitinlinewiththeguidepin.A
routercouldbeusedinsteadofthedrillpress.Itwouldrequireafixturetosupportitdirectlyoverthe
guidepin.
Placetheplatetobearchedoverthetoolingpinsontopoftheplaten.Fastentheplatetotheplaten
withtwo#8flatheadwoodscrewsfromtheundersideoftheplatenandlocatedinboardofthetwo
dowelpins.Donotgotoodeepintotheplatewiththescrews.Placeatemplateoverthetoolingpins
onthebottomoftheplate.Thetemplatescouldbeheldinplacewithflatheadscrewsifdesired.Now
restthisassemblyontheplywooddrillpresstable.
Setthecuttingedge/faceoftherouterbittothehighestelevationusingthetopoftheplatenasa
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datumsurface.Makesurethatthecorrespondingtemplateisinstalledundertheplaten.
Drivetherouterbitatahighspeedand
(CAUTION)slowlypushthework
intothecutter,removingmaterial,until
thetemplatebearsagainsttheguide
pin,thecutterismillingawaythe
correspondingplateauontheplate.
Keepingthetemplateagainsttheguide
pin,guidingtheplatenaroundthepin
asthoughyouareusingapinrouter
setup.Changetemplateaseachplateau
iscompleted.Startwiththehighest
elevation(smallesttemplate)andwork
down.Changethedepthofcutofthe
routerbittocorrespondwiththe
appropriatetemplate(saytwo
millimetersbetweeneachplaneorwhateverisestablished).Ifdesired,milltheelevationsonehalf
millimeterhighertoallowmaterialforhandfinishingandslightdiscrepanciesinthesetup.
Withalloftheplateausmilled,wenowhaveestablishedaseriesofstepswheretheinternalcorneror
rootofeachstepisthelocationofthattopographiclineofthelayout.Byplaningawaythecornersof
eachstepdowntotherootandblendingthecontourswewillhaveanarchwhichwillbe
dimensionallyclosetothecopiedinstrument.
AllBulletinarticlesarecopyrighted1997bytheSouthernCaliforniaAssociationofViolinMakers.
ContactBulletineditorJohnGilson,attheaddressgivenonourhomepage,forpermissionto
reproduceBulletinmaterial.
ReturntohomepageoftheSouthernCaliforniaAssociationofViolinMakers

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