violins88

Cute!

Doug, Of course I agree. 65 gram weight and 40 wt rayon thread. This is an objective measure that will keep you honest. 26 pennies is 65 grams.

Wow. Wonderful demonstration. Thanks urban luthier.

So I am making violin #21. I am at the stage of shaping the back to final dimension. Templates, thumplanes, scrapers. In my old shop in North Carolina, I had a disc sharpening system... 6000 grit. I used 45 degree angle on my scrapers. In my current space, (cannot be called a shop), I can’t use that grinder disc. It’s 8000 miles away. I decided to try 90 degree angle scrapers. 020 inch steel, shim stock. 52100 steel I think. After watching YouTube videos, including Davide Sora’s, I think I have an observation that might be useful to some newbies. One method is to take extreme care to shar

You said you have studied under a successful maker. What more do you need? Take his advice and get on with your career.

No. At first you might use a 120 grit diamond plate. After that, I don’t think hollow grinding is necessary.

I just watched Davide Sora finishing the graduation of the back plate. It seems to me that a good violin making school might require new applicants to have watched all of his videos.

My method. You can use Silicon carbide paper, 400, 1000, 2000, 4000 grit, chrome oxide steel. Vertical wood post with 3 or 4 mm pin. Each gouge has a dimple in the end. To help find the angle you want, color the edge with marker, then rub, in place, on a piece of paper. Begin with 400 grit. Then 1000, 2000, 4000, using water on each. On the inside of the gouge, use 1000, 2000, 4000, chrome oxide. Each of these is on a dowel of suitable diameter.

I am making a violin in New Zealand. I will use New Zealand wood, not ebony. Perhaps bone for the nut.

We have finally reached a kind of saturation point in this thread where it begins to get very creative and fun. It’s about time. Carry on! little known secret, David Burgess is actually an Australian who has been masquerading as a Michigander all these years.

I followed Oded’s recipe, mixing ethanol with powdered madder. Heated at 70 C for 3 hours in my wax pot. Result is a nice yellow. I will let 80 % of the alcohol evaporate. Thanks Oded. What a guy! You’re the man!

And have you seen this:

Don and Carl, Thanks for you thoughts. Ok, I will lay this down for a while, but one experiment I want to try on a throwaway violin is to replace the bridge with a steel plate. Then replace the strings and tailpiece with a steel cable, maybe 1 mm dia. A turnbuckle with be inserted. The violin body will rest in a wooden outline shape. When the tension is increased, distortion should be visible. Where will failure occur first? How will distortion proceed?

As I think about static forces in a violin, it seems to me that (viewed from the side) the top edge of the nut and the top of the saddle should be in alignment with the middle top edge of the top plate. It seems to me this would minimize bending forces in the violin. Thoughts?

Punkiing. Yes

Please make an effort to understand that making a great violin is one thing. Getting it promoted, and promoting yourself are two different things. People who lack empathy will always misunderstand others, and that will always be a deficit. One may show a perfect violin to a potential customer, but if your personality turns people off, they will go somewhere else. And the person who lacks empathy will NEVER see what he/she has done wrong. Never. He/she/him/her/they/it will blame someone else. Proper coaching of this person might help a little. Not directing this at the OP, or anyone. Just sayin

Thanks. I received an email from him.

Does anyone have information on him? Born 1948, Neeritter, Netherlands. Is he still alive?

Question answered

Where is Alfons Pisters now? No website? No visibility on the Internet? Still alive?

Peter, At last I got something out of this discussion. Making the taper you describe is standard practice, isn’t it? Now I can see a reason for it. Thanks

https://youtu.be/H03I1Ip4PJQ

Ditto what David said. Double and triple ditto...etc. I have purfling to do.

The man said it himself! LOL. I look in the mirror and don’t see how big my nose is. Well, it’s the only nose I have and I can’t get rid of it.

The new thing is the cbn wheel. Because the wheel is aluminum alloy, heat is absorbed and it is very difficult to de-temper a blade.