Check out Antonio Stradivari's vise

[John Coloccia]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Antonio_stradivari.jpg

Interesting choice. I suspect it was convenient to hold tops/backs while cutting them out.

[Chris Griggs]

Is that a leg vise I see? That is an interesting choice. I mean, I love my leg vise but I guess wouldn't have pictured an instrument maker using one.

Cool.

[John Coloccia]

Is that a leg vise I see? That is an interesting choice. I mean, I love my leg vise but I guess wouldn't have pictured an instrument maker using one.

Cool.

Exactly my first thought and why I posted :) . Of all the vises I could have, I'd probably choose that one last for the work I do. At first I thought it might be a convenient way to hold wood while cutting out the top and back shapes, but why not use a bench pin for that?

[Chris Griggs]

Yeah. I really think of leg vises as the bread an butter for doing lots of long edge joints. Thinking about it though, I do find mine useful for lots of smaller type work, but the image of in my head is definitely that of a joiners vise.

In addition to cutting out tops/backs I bet he found it pretty useful for match planing the two halves of a violin backs. The are great for that task.

Interesting indeed. Thanks for posting it.

[Joe Bailey]

I'd be cautious about reading too much into that print. Even the Wiki captions calls it: "A romanticized print of Antonio Stradivari examining an instrument"
Bear in mind that the print dates to 184 years after his death.

[Jim Koepke]

Also note the front of the vise comes a little above the bench top. Some carvers used extended leg vises above the bench top.

The print could be "romanticized" or "stylized" per what the artist knew about woodworking.

Though in that time period it is doubtful there were many people making fancy vises for woodworking.

jtk

[John Coloccia]

Oh sure...ruin my fun. LOL

It's interesting that in all the prints I've seen where a vise is present, it's always a one or two screw leg vise. Maybe that's just what was common, as Jim says.

[Karl Andersson]

The artists were probably the "no 'count" sons of cabinetmakers and joiners and drew from memory or visited the shops of their drinking buddies. I mean, have you ever seen their depictions of common sea creatures on old maps?
273265

[Jim Koepke]

I mean, have you ever seen their depictions of common sea creatures on old maps?

What do you mean?

There was one in the news a few days ago that looked like that long one at the bottom. It was 18' long and they found it floating along some coast.

They may have been drunkards, but they likely saw things to make them draw what they did.

jtk

[John Coloccia]

They may have been drunkards, but they likely saw things to make them draw what they did.

jtk

One of them spotted my ex-fiance, apparently.

[george wilson]

I guess you're lucky she only made it to the fiancé stage. I had one like that when I was young and stupid!!

[Joe Bailey]

They may have been drunkards, but they likely saw things to make them draw what they did.



I think it's more likely that the fantastic creatures depicted are the product of alcohol-driven hallucinations.

[Winton Applegate]

Just kidding, JUST KIDDING


Antonio Stradivari's vise

Though I probably will never make one (and then again) . . .
I bought and read this book with much enjoyment
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0709058764/ref=oh_details_o08_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Man the price has skyrocketed. I could sell mine and make a bob or two; but I won't. I love that book !
I listen to a lot of orchestral, classical . . . solo . . .
violin music. So learning about the instrument was a natural next step for me.

I have no fantasies about actually playing one but . . .
make one ? . . .
ah now there is a nice fantasy I enjoy nurturing.

I have a fascination and affinity for gossamer like structures meaning light and fragile and yet strong and powerfully effective for the purpose they are intended for.
viz. : road racing bicycles, air planes, violins etc.

Yah Stradivari and those guys knew stuff !
For sure.

[Winton Applegate]

Here are photos from the Violin book (no leg vises to be seen)
http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy298/noydb1/IMG_2393_zps7abe3c37.jpg (http://s801.photobucket.com/user/noydb1/media/IMG_2393_zps7abe3c37.jpg.html)


http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy298/noydb1/IMG_2394_zps9f5324d8.jpg (http://s801.photobucket.com/user/noydb1/media/IMG_2394_zps9f5324d8.jpg.html)


http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy298/noydb1/IMG_2395_zpsece9afed.jpg (http://s801.photobucket.com/user/noydb1/media/IMG_2395_zpsece9afed.jpg.html)

[Winton Applegate]

Match planing !

Oh Bullwinkle . . .
that old trick never works.

Nothin' up my sleeves

(anyway these dudes joint one at a time then using straight edge and sighting through gap correct for a perfect match. That is about the only way I have found to find perfection) see third photo for the text.


http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy298/noydb1/IMG_2396_zps5574c371.jpg (http://s801.photobucket.com/user/noydb1/media/IMG_2396_zps5574c371.jpg.html)


http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy298/noydb1/IMG_2397_zps263d671d.jpg (http://s801.photobucket.com/user/noydb1/media/IMG_2397_zps263d671d.jpg.html)

http://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy298/noydb1/IMG_2398_zpsf0d18489.jpg (http://s801.photobucket.com/user/noydb1/media/IMG_2398_zpsf0d18489.jpg.html)

[Earl Sullivan]

There is always http://www.maestronet.com/forum/index.php?/forum/4-the-pegbox/ if the itch strikes.

[Bill Houghton]

There was one in the news a few days ago that looked like that long one at the bottom. It was 18' long and they found it floating along some coast.

They may have been drunkards, but they likely saw things to make them draw what they did.

jtk

"Some coast" was the southern California coast, and there's been a second one just this last Friday.

Here's the article on the original, 18 foot one last week: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57607609/18-foot-serpent-like-sea-creature-found-off-california/
And here's an article on the new one, a mere 14 feet long: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57608335/second-giant-sea-serpent-oarfish-found-in-california/

These are deepwater fish, so two sightings in a week is a little worrisome - hope it doesn't indicate any kind of epidemic.

And, yes, it's generally accepted that they're probably the source, or at least a source, of the sightings of "sea serpents." Considering that they can hit 56 feet in length, about the deck length of the smallest of Columbus' three ships (La Niña, for our members outside the U.S., who didn't have to memorize the names for sixth-grade history class), I can understand how that would happen.

The dragons are a different matter, though. I'm not aware of any fire-breathing fish.

[Jim Koepke]

The dragons are a different matter, though. I'm not aware of any fire-breathing fish.

My quick thoughts on this it may have been a simple matter of some plankton's bioluminescence linked with a whale spouting or some other sea creature breaching the surface with such plankton. It definitely was not a fire breathing sea creature, but to men with rum out at sea, what they saw was an actual occurrence, their minds just used what they knew and produced an explanation for what they were seeing.

Perception and reality are often very different.

But that could lead us to topics we are not supposed to discuss on this forum.

jtk

[Tommy Martin]

The only dedicated Luthiers bench that I remember seeing, was one that was designed and built for the Luthier students at the North Bennett Street school. 273383

Interesting that it was designed with the leg vice. Video on the school web site shows them being used.

[Winton Applegate]

Tommy,

Good post !
Thanks.

[Tommy Martin]

The builder Pete Michelinie has a great photo series documenting the build of 13 of these benches. He seems to be a more than just a pretty decent wood worker.

http://picasaweb.google.com/michelinie/13Workbenches#

Regards,