The centre joint of the back of this cello wasn’t level and the area very sunken too, so first of all it needed opening up, cleaning and levelling. Using the little clamps across the centre joint already helps in manipulating the arching to some extent.

I also clamped the central area for some time after wetting the wood to try and ease it back slightly towards its original shape. The more you can manipulate the arching before making the cast, the better and less work in scraping the cast afterwards.

Fitting 2 large studs in the worst area while being clamped, helped when making the cast.

The longer the area can be pressed or reinforced with temporary large studs, the better, as maple has a tendency to want to settle back to its distorted shape.