scordatura

I would suggest contacting Eugene Holtier on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/eugene.holtier. I'm sure he would answer your concerns. Please let us know what you find out as I have this varnish but not have used it yet.

Don't tell me you worked on Explorer 1. You look very young for your age. Did you know von Braun? Lol

Wow Don the Hubble mirror problem was quite a bugger. The tolerances are crazy. And I just thought you were a "rover guy".

Does anyone know if there is a program that color codes the thicknesses of plates? There used to be a program by Hans Pluhar but it is down http://www.hanspluhar.com/violingraduation.html. Something like this would be nice;

Greg Alf’s article in the Strad about the Messiah neck is very interesting.

Caliper purchased from Metropolitan Music. Works perfectly. No longer needed. $55 shipped to continental US. PM if interested.

Sold

Complete Herdim Kreisler Guarneri template set. Cost new $140. Price $85 shipped. PM if interested.

That is what I figured. The piece on the left is lighter than I would expect and the even lighter resawn rib wood made me think about how deep the color change goes after treatment. Perhaps it is the image. I have seen treated wood that on the outside is quite brown.

Have those been torrefied? I have been listening to a bunch of guitar luthier podcasts. Lots of use of torrefied wood in that world. Big makers and corporate enterprises using it.

Tasty varnish and back wood.

I like this tool!

Can you post some pics of your violas?

I would bet that playing the 5 string feels different than the 4 string in terms of the response or playability.

After spending some time with Fusion 360, I have to say that I am underwhelmed with the loft capabilities of the program. For those not familiar with Fusion 360 that is what you use to create the arching surface. It seems that creating a surface for violin arching gives Fusion 360 fits. I can deal with interface and program quirks but the loft problem is a deal killer. I realize that some have had success but I am finding that I am having to compromise the modeling/design too much or having no success at all despite different approaches. OK the program is free but I am thinking of cutting my losses and using Rhino. After all my time is worth something...I think.