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Ultra Violet treatment of violin wood improves sound transmission, reduces dampening of vibrations and increases flexibility of the wood acording to a recent Strad Magazine test

After 30 days in the UV tank, the plates are removed. An untreated top plate gives a reference to how the wood naturally colors.

I am hand closing the body looking for problem areas that might occur when gluing the top plate on.

Because of the angled top grain, one of the 'ff' hole wings has a natural weak spot. Here I am glueing on an thin piece of wood inside to support this area. The wood clamping blocks are shaped to the wood surface and a piece of waxed paper with a neoprene foam pad spread the clamping load during glue up.