Urban Luthier

Has anyone tried the spyderco ceramic stones? These are ultra-hard ceramic stones that require a bit of water and drop of soap for lubricant and clean up with soap and water - virtually no mess. I bought the the corse and fine slip stones to use at the bench to touch up between full sharpening, early testings has been very promising.

The Sacconi book may be useful. It has arching and thicknessing diagrams for the Strad b-form cello

I haven't read the whole thread Trevor, but next time an easy way to do this is to mount your jointer in a vise upside down and take both halves of your top and draw them down over the blade with light even pressure. (Your blade needs to be flat and as sharp as you can get it). Any inaccuracy from left to right will cancel out. be careful not to apply two much pressure at the beginning and end of each pass over the blade. Test accuracy by putting one half in the vise and use the other half to test for front to back and side to side (there should be no rocking). If it is a perfect fit you'll fe

See this article - a scarf joint in Cremonese work is not uncommon according to the author - the great thing about a scarf joint is that you can precisely fit the corners and even if the scarf itself isn't perfect - you'll cut the low spot when you do the fluting anyway,

Wow!

This reads like a rather generalized (and possibly) sarcastic statement to me . Not exactly sure what you are referring to. But for the sake of argument, I don't think it is unreasonable to draw the conclusion that certain similarities of the Cremonese arching system can be observed throughout the classical making era from the 1560s to the 1750s.

Davi's post above is very interesting and makes a lot of sense. It is quite possible that the long arch (and overall arching height) was formed by the design objectives and working methods of forming the arch itself. Have a look at this article "Arching, Purfling & Edgework in Cremonese Instruments" Actually i think that is exactly what they were doing. Copying the working tradition of their shop. Andrea Amati was working into the 1570s a hundred years before the first strad. Extreme examples aside, one can easily see a continuity arching from Andrea Amati to Guad

No idea what instrument he played but from the photo it looks like a stunning one piece back cut in-between the quarter and slab. Even from this small photo one can see aspects that have the appearance of historical Cremonese violins

Amati Alard is in the Ashmolean. del gesu Alard is in Paris

l'Orangerie to see the Monets and the Pompidou just because it so darn cool

Cool projection technique!! for the interior layout i simply find the thickness centre per Sacconi, drill down to the max thickness at that point and use series of compass dividers set to the correct radii to mark the central section and lungs on the back. As you carve the lines disappear so having several dividers preset is handy to re-mark the layout

Wow! her work is incredible - thanks for sharing. The images of the f-hole restorations are extraordinary. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to attain this level of skill. In my opinion, restoration professionals working at this level have to be the Jedi-Masters of the luthier community. A whole other skill set than making.

Exactly not really any higher than a typical Strad. The 1666 Amati has a slightly broader recurve than a typical strad made 40-50 years later but again it is quite subtle, not like the Alard WB mentions above

Hey Jim. back height is right around 15 mm top is just shy of 16mm. Overall the arching is a bit more scooped at the corner cross sections and in the middle than a strad model

Amati 1666 copy. Work in progress. Lovely arching model - graceful and flowing with not a flat line anywhere

Thin coats of Holiter varnish applied with your fingers or a pad should dry overnight in a drying cabinet. Heck i could get his stuff to dry to the touch with a few hrs of strong sunlight. if you do use a cobalt or japan dryer and you varnish with your finders or palm, make sure to wear gloves.

Stunning work! The quilted figure is unusual for violins but you'd done a fabulous job make it look so natural

One fine afternoon at the Ashmolean. Enjoy.

I generally use a french curve to modify the curve at each corner following the outline traced by the washer. The corners will naturally trumpet out a bit with slightly more overhang in the c-bouts because the french curve follows a tighter radius. Then square off using a fixed reference point along the centre line.

The wonderful thing about the Ashmolean is that one can see the Messiah in context of dozen or so other first rate instruments. The room is almost always empty so it is easy to spend quality time. Lots can be seen with the naked eye (even in low light) that can't be seen in photographs.

thanks - I got mine at home depot as well - but ages ago and I haven't seen them since

Anyone know where I can find these clamps? Ebay is full off look a-likes but these ones are different - the pads are thicker and the spring tension is higher (just enough to clamp a well fitted lining) but not too tight to leave marks. There are no manufactures marks on mine but they look similar to larger Bessey clamps. I can't find a 50mm version anywhere. Not sure where i got these but I'd love to find more

I really wish we had a 'like' button for posts here. Still laughing!!! I've held a so called Vuillaume messiah copy in my hand. It looked like a Vuillaume. The Messiah looks like a violin from the strad workshop.

Regarding the varnish - it clear from naked eye observation that the Messiah has been polished at some point in its history. Like many, I've stared at it for hours, it is truly a sight to behold. The entire Ashmolean collection is outstanding

Who really knows for sure. I like John Dilworth's speculation that "‘Messiah’ Stradivari was the first instrument completed by the young Giovanni Battista and kept by his family for sentimental reasons"