On varnishing violins – Part I
riccardo964 “I need hardly say that curious connoisseurs and anxious luthiers have devoted much time and thought to the fascinating but elusive problem of varnish making.” “British Violin Makers” (1920), by…
Kochanski "del Gesù", 1741
“Arguments rumble on as to whether Guarneri was insane, incompetent or a genius beyond our ken, but there is no denying that this violin is a wonderful artefact, thrilling to…
About violin cross-sections and bridges
Yes. We are in the end building a soundbox or acoustic box that will create music when musicians produce the right vibrations on strings. Here’s a cross section of the…
Let's discuss purfling cutters and groovers
There’s two tasks whilst working on the violin’s (or fiddle’s) purfling (or inlay making): cutting it and grooving it (in this order). A purfle is an ornamental border. In violins,…
Anatomy of a violin: it's basically 17 parts
A violin has fundamentally 17 parts (if we count f-hole as a ‘part’, the four tuning pegs together, the garland – although it has four parts, and we don’t mention…
Comments on wood for violin/fiddle making
As Jon Mangum put it, in his “How to Build a Fiddle” series on YouTube (which I strongly recommend you to see, a 14-part series), a violin follows traditional materials,…
Clamping wood
Let’s talk about clamping (cramping?). On several occasions throughout violin making or general woodworking, you will need to clamp wood together to settle the glue and fix parts or laminate…
First post and basic info
Let’s talk basics about violin (fiddle?) making, lutherie and wood. Basics Within the chordophone family (ie, musical instruments with strings) we have four fundamental types: zithers, lutes, lyres, and harps.…