Workbench
						On the left is the new fiddle with the linings being glued in. The lining is a little strip of wood that provides more gluing surface for the top and back of the fiddle to adhere to. The ribs (as the sides of the instrument are called) are only about a millimeter thick and with the added thickness of the linings the ribs also become far less flexible. The lightness and rigidity of the assembled outline is surprising. Yes, the lining is clamped in place using clothespins from the supermarket. I have no idea what Stradivari used, but I'll bet he'd have liked to have clamps as convenient as these.
		On the right are the almost finished ribs. The corner and end blocks are yet to be trimmed, and the linings have to be tapered. In this picture you can see the lower lining plainly, and the upper lining here and there, especially at the upper right hand edge.
			By the way, the workbench is from plans in Fine Woodworking. My friend Jimmy Kokiadis and I built two in his shop ten or fifteen years ago. Quite a while back I was riding in a car with friends Charlie Uht, Alex Kirs and Jimmy Kokiadis, and between us we decided that Kokiadis was the most American sounding name of the lot of us!
					On the left is a close-up of a corner of the ribs. Notice that the C bout lining (on the right) is inlet into the corner block. If a glue joint fails most of the linings would press against the ribs, but the C bout linings are likely to pull away and cause a buzz, so they fitted into the corners.