Urban Luthier

nice article here. https://www.roger-hargrave.de/Seiten/english/Bibliothek/Bibliothek.htm

beautiful sound!

Hopfully it will stand the test of time like the Castelbarco Strad cello. Over 300 years old with not a single crack in the ribs!

Any idea how to identify a pice of poplar by looking at it? I'm curious about the piece I posted above. As for the ribs, I may have enough thickness in the wedge for the ribs, if not I'll look for some nice beech.

Geez Conor that's nuts. Nice for a flat piece of furniture but I couldn't imagine bending or carving this stuff. The poplar I have (pictured above) is halfway between quarter and slab - the light figure has a sort of quilted look. it reminds me a little of the cello you posted awhile back.

Here are mine - cheep, cheerful, easy to use. I made mine out of walnut. I even did a 3d file for folks to print their own

double post

I've seen one of these in action and it is impressive. You can read more about the Yates on Konrad's blog http://sauerandsteiner.blogspot.com/2011/12/magnificent.html

i agree I have this one as well and don't use it at all

Squirrel tail planes from Lee Valley - big mouths great for hogging; http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=57205&cat=1,230,41182 and an upscale flat sole plan for finer work http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=76910&cat=1,230,41182,48942. Tighter mouth. The machining on this one is exceptional! One can buy all of them for less than the cost of the Bennedeto planes noted above

really nice! strad inspired model?

Agree bandsaw as well. Great for the most labour intensive tasks like re-sawing. I don't bother with a bandsaw for cutting out plates etc - i use a bow saw now. The time it takes to switch the bandsaw and set it up, i can have the plates sawn out by hand.

One of the biggest challenges of jointing is getting both edges to mate perfectly. If you do them one at a time, edge up in a vice, there is a tendency to twist to the right on the start of the stroke and twist to the left on the end of the stroke (if you are right handed that is). If you are having trouble with the centre joint, one trick is to plane both edges together. That way any irregularity or twist will be canceled out when you place the two edges together for gluing. Joiners have used this workflow for for centuries! other thing to note is to ensure you plane is sharp and the blade is straight (i.e. no camber). Once you get it perfect, glue it right away! With a bit of practice it is possible to get a perfect joint. I routinely have to use a 5 x loupe on spruce tops to see where my centre join is.

Simply stunning!

I know this is an old thread but i was wondering if anyone has made a cello off of Sacconi's reconstruction of the cello b-form as posted above. Based on Joe's comments, it appears to differ slightly from Roger's Davidov drawing (lower part of the centre bouts are lower in the Davidov)

for those of us who measured the temp i don't thing it is about laser precision here -- most of us did what you did - test a bunch of different temperatures based on personal workflow to find out how hot you can bend without burning. Then mark the position on the iron and be done with it. in my case I was simply curious to know if the surface temp of my iron matched what's printed on the dial. And in my case it is pretty close.

Yes exactly -- just because the bending iron is 170 C doesn't mean that is what the wood sees. Factors like Steam and insulations from the bending strap likely increases the temperature the wood sees

I have the Luthier's Bench Iron and I set it to 170 C -- it is fairly accurate +/- 5 C degrees I measured it with one of these. Bends perfectly at this temp as long as the rib is fully supported by the strap - no stains, burns or discolouration, no kinks or breaks I did a bunch of experiments recently and took notes. Keep in mind this is with my wood - medium figured euro maple and my workflow (which I admit is a little slower than ideal) 200-225 degrees -- WAY too hot -- melts the winter growth and creates caramel stains in the forms of dots and streaks. Wood discolours and burns 180 - works but some slight discolouration of the wood, chance of caramel streaks if you don't work quickly. perhaps useful for highly figured wood 170 - works the best as noted above - slightly moistened rib, light steamed for 10 seconds, establish the curve by pulling slowly around the iron and bend dry for everything else - no burns, discolouration, cracks 150 - Works but need to steam for longer - makes the wood too wet - need to work more slowly - easier to get kinks or breaks even with the rib is fully supported

grand indeed!

The Strad Magazine sells many https://www.thestradshop.com/store/product-category/lutherie/ Enjoy!

Here is a nice cello by Frank Ravatin on Tarisio with a guidance of £25,000–40,000.

Nice jig John! I test by gently pressing the sharpened tool into a fingernail -- not much arm hair I'm afraid

I'm quite familiar with Roger's articles ;). I Don't see any reason why a modern maker couldn't follow a variation of the workflow employed by the ancients - in this case the neck is dovetailed to the rib garland rather than nailed to it. Then go about the workflow outlined by Roger in the Guarneri book to scribe the outline. The neck would need a notch of course to accept the top plate

Of course this makes perfect sense David. I should have clarified above -- my curiosity is more around why many schools teach this 'restoration informed' method in new construction, when there may be other workflows for jointing a neck that are easier for students to learn and execute. I just looked at an old trade secret article by Howard Needham that illustrates the method for jointing a neck before the back is attached. I have never done it this way but I think I will give it ago in the future as a learning exercise

Thank you as an amateur I've only this a few times but looking back, that is exactly it, a sliding dovetail (albeit one with very oblique side angles) Next question is a little harder... for the life of me i cant figure out why modern makers continue to perform the dovetail neck set with the back installed - obviously this workflow makes sense for converting a baroque to modern setup (which is where the the method comes from if I understand correctly) But from a pure woodworking perspective, it is much easier to execute an accurate sliding dovetail joint with the back off as one can see the joint from both ends and verify accuracy as as you go. The added bonus is the neck waste can be cut flush to the back side of the block.