Jerry Lynn

You can order from Kremer, Talas, or Conservation Resources. The last time Jeff had me order for Oberlin we used Conservation Resources One pound will last a very long time. It needs water with an iron content to gel (tap). If you use distilled, it will never gel. You can play with the concentration to get stuff that is either stiff, or very loose. The number one thing most people use it for is large deposits of old glue. Small quantities of solvent can be incorporated at the time of mixing.

Laponite RD can be useful in removal, being a gel it’s less prone to over saturating the area with excessive moisture. I’ll apply, cover with a barely damp paper towel, and then cover loosely with cling film.

You often see a very small chamfer on well executed replacement blocks. It’s a nice touch for “the next guy” who has to remove the top. In my experience, the top block joint fails most often because of not ensuring good wood to wood contact before reinstalling a top, or from a poorly executed projection raise. Oh, that’s good.... it’s going on a mug.

@JacksonMaberry shouldn't you be busy making weird instruments with butt cheeks instead?

I have wonderful friends and colleagues whom charge well north of $240 for a violin bridge, some of them are avid commenters here on MN. To add to some of the comments that have already been said: just like any other commodity, a lot depends on the segment of the market you are servicing, hourly rate, and reputation. Combine that with a premium blank (or custom blanks), and $240 for a bridge might not be enough for who you approach to have work done.

A lot of friends and colleagues have purchased scopes from AmScope , and have been quite happy with them. It's the same supplier that the Oberlin Restoration scope was purchased from that David mentioned earlier. You can build what you want and add more gear later to suite your needs. I have a trinocular head in 7x-45x mounted on an articulating boom arm. The boom serves double duty as a mount for my 3d scanner when I'm not using the microscope head. A .5 Barlow lens allows for a very long focal length if need be (also halves the power). I only use that lens when I'm standing, I find the focal length as is to be appropriate for normal fiddle work when sitting .

Everything else aside, the clutter of that bench is the stuff of nightmares.

Hi Scordatura! I have two Richpen Phoenix airbrushes that I use. I got them because Jeff recommended them to me. Both of them are the 213C model. One has been modified to have a smaller nozzle and needle, essentially making it a 212C which wasn't an official product of the company, but a reseller was modding them that way. Richpen Phoenix I mostly use the stock 213C, the larger bore seems to work better for me. I always use a combo of dyes and dry pigments, the pigments seem to have an easier time with the larger size. Unfortunately, it would appear is if they've been discontinued. A trusted friend and colleague in Boston has recently gotten the Iwata Neo gravity fed dual action airbrush . They say good things about it, and it's very affordable. I'm so glad you like Omo! We've shelved the next episode on Baroque set up for a later date in favor of some commentary from Ben Hebbert.

At the time, I didn't have the Jeff slush fund for toys, so I bought the Power Jet Pro... they've updated the model now to include two hookups, hopefully it retains the quietness of the older version which isn't much louder than Jeff's. My workshop is small and I don't mind it at all when it's running, even when it's directly by my feet. It's also a whole lot more portable, hence why it makes the trip to Oberlin: Iwata Power Jet Pro The fifth tile on this instagram post shows me using it, I think at the end the compressor kicks on. neck heel/airbrush I'm not showing good form by how I'm holding the the hose... or by not wearing a mask (really should mask up). I often use the airbrush together with a paintbrush for heels.

Eternity arts makes an okay UV chalk that is white in daylight. It's a little grainy for standard use, but it can be useful if you are stuck. Normally, I'm using regular eternity arts chalk for patches, and Mercurious for bass bars. All chalk will lie if you aren't careful with it... Kind of makes it look like a party is happening

I think I might have been the friend that told Jeff about it.... I've been using the pocket plane for a little while. I first acquired it because It of Gear Acquisition Syndrome, otherwise known as GAS. Since then, it's become a go to plane for a a wide variety of trimming and fitting jobs, and it feels wonderful in the hand. Perhaps the most surprising thing i've found it useful for is trimming the sides of fingerboards when fitting a new board. Being smaller than a normal block plane, it's somewhat easier to achieve nice hollow on the flanks when using a shooting board. The thumb hollow is square to the bottom, and it's relatively easy to ride the thumb hollow on the shooting board.

Exactly! I seem to attract broken buttons, the vast majority of them have been safer to go from the top down rather than to remove the back.

If you really do want to work back in your old stomping grounds for a while, I do have a guest bench.... not sure how much work we would actually get done though.

What Julian said about what Tommy said.

This is my take on the idiot stick. I make it from rib stock for violins, and thin plywood for 'celli.