Lutherie

TRADE SECRETS
Makers reveal their special techniques

Making a martelé button

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BY MATT WEHLING
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I
t’s a small detail, but it’s a cool detail. A martelé if Paul (below) dreamt up this technique, but when
button is one where the inside of the button ring I’ve shown it to other makers, some of them quite
is octagonal, matching the outside of the button, experienced, most have been impressed by the
as opposed to having been made with the typical simplicity and practicality of his solution.
round on the inside tubing. People often say the purpose
was to make the ring unable to turn relative to the ebony
core, but I think the real reason was that one can make
the martelé button with less metal, so that the bow maker’s
initial cost for silver and gold was much lower.
The method I use was taught to me by Paul Martin
Siefried, who sadly passed away in November 2019. It is
a very logical way to fit an octagonal ring. Paul would
say that he would think about a challenge until a logical
solution came to him, often in a dream. I don’t know

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SIEFRIED PHOTO ESTATE OF PAUL SIEFRIED.

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ALL OTHER IMAGES MATT WEHLING

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64 THE STRAD   [Link]

 TRADE SECRETS

3 You’ll need a specialised mandrel on which to

hammer the ring octagonal. Here are examples
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Mandrels

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How the ring looks on the mandrel

4
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5 change the
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The ring is taking shape &3>2;31@6-'$'3(;!6'W ring is a perfect octagon.

[Link]   THE STRAD 65

 TRADE SECRETS

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9 The octagonal ring has now been glued on to
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the sequence I like to work for your method.

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of the ebony (A) so that I can force the ring on to the middle
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[Link]  1 THE STRAD 67