d against it, the sawing
can be done flush with the side of the bench. The saw should be fine,
in good condition, and gently used, or the line made will be ragged,
ebony being brittle and splintering stuff, requiring some humouring
in this respect. If the sawing is accomplished neatly and vertically
true--this last is very essential--there will be little to do in
trimming the surface of the end that is to come against the nut when
near completion. A piece of fine glasspaper wrapped round a squared
piece of pine, will make a good surface. The reduction of the width
of the fingerboard at each end will then be proceeded with. In the case
of an old neck being retained, the width of it at each end can be taken
by compasses and marked on the flat side of the ebony. A thin shaving
should be allowed for in finishing off. But we are on the work of a
new neck; therefore the marking off should be done to some general
standard. A good one may be reckoned as follows, for a violin of
fourteen inches long and average width--total length of fingerboard,
exclusive of nut, ten and a half inches--greatest width, one inch and
five-eighths, width at nut, one-sixteenth under an inch. The ebony will
be planed neatly down, with vertical sides, to these measurements. The
height, or rise of the sides of the fingerboard above the maple,
three-sixteenths of an inch, which may be kept for the whole length.
The reducing to the requisite width and depth should be done with the
plane in good order, a metal one for this kind of work being the best.
The surfaces that are to be glued together must now be considered. An
untidy looking black line along the neck at the junction of the ebony
and maple goes far to spoil the general effect; a glance at this part
will at once be sufficient for declaring whether the neck and
fingerboard has been fitted by a neat and competent repairer. A
frequent cause of the dark line--it is really a want of proper fitting
together of the parts--is the hastily planing the two
surfaces--straight enough possibly--and delay while the glueing
operation is in progress. The fact of ebony being almost equally
affected by moisture as other woods--in fact, more so than some--must
not be lost sight of. Coupled with this curling of the wood under the
influence of damp is the want of proper regulation of the pressure after
glueing and placing the parts in opposition. An old-fashioned method
of uniting these parts is still pursued by some re