By the time all is complete, our violin will have used 160 to 200 hours of direct labor, spread out over three months.

I use spool clamps with a leather pad in contact with the wood plates. The leather has a groove cut in its surface so that it does not put excess pressure on the extreme outer edge of the plate

The next day, I remove the assembly clamps. These clamps, by the way, need to checked for tightness several times during the drying process. Just a firm 'finger tight' is adequate.