Violin Forum/Message Board

John Cadd · Posted: Fri May 17, 2024 9:46 am Post subject: Sound Post Setters

I have a post setter made of aluminium alloy ,but the pointed blade had a very obtuse angle in it . There are some advertised with stainless steel which could file down to a sharper edge . For some reason they are selling straight ones .That seems an obviously bad design. Are brass ones any good ?

John Cadd · Posted: Sat May 18, 2024 3:29 pm Post subject: sound post setters

Basically I dislike the traditional setter with a spike/blade . Today I pulled out some electrical plastic trunking strips I had left over . Just roughly cutting a few pieces to length the basic idea of how to make something work evolved . The piece that worked best was narrow square section trunking . The plan was to have the post contained within 3 sides and a loop of string to hold it in place.Two small holes in the "vertical " plastic and one larger hole in the horizontal plastic . The trunking was bent at 90degrees to fit in the hole .A flat clear section was to allow that bit to go under the top as far as the post position . The box section sides were left as a handle and as a channel to hold the string . I thought afterwards a clothes peg will fit in the slot to hold the string tight .
As It happens it worked without the peg.The first tryout I could not put the post inside the channel with it inside the violin so I cut a small section off the side part.Then the post could drop down without a problem. The loose loop of string was pulled tighter and on the opposite side I used a six inch steel ruler to nudge the bottom end into place.
I had taped across the belly at the bridge line so the aiming point was clear to see .Bridge feet position all marked .
I cheated a bit before gluing the top on . I had drawn the bridge line and feet positions inside the belly with a pencil .
My home made "length gauge" made in soldered brass was used .It has a certain amount of friction to hold the setting on it`s own.The popular screw action types on ebay looked a bit awkward and I had a thumb grip added to mine to make it one handed .
So todays fitting worked like a dream and the post never fell down once . The peg addition means there are no knots to bother about.Just pull the string out.