nathan slobodkin

Brian Derber's Manual of Violin Making is the only book I have ever seen from which a beginner could learn to make a decent violin. It is written In English. There are hundreds of other books which a trained violin maker could use to increase their knowledge or skills. When you say you are employing this women do you mean as a violin maker? Repair person? Do you have a violin shop yourself?

Another big thsnk you for that link Jacob.

Does anyone here know when the Mittenwalders stopped using the one piece rib with notch as their normal construction? Pretty sure they weren't teaching that at the school by the 1960's

Why?

Me too.

Yes that sounds like it woiuld be interesting. It would reqire a very accurate scale and a rigid schedule to produce accurate results however.. I think the protein treatments slow the moisture change within the wood which would be a seperate issue from the water attaching to the coating and increasing weight. Not sure if tonal effects of humidity are weight related or from changes in flexibility. Some instruments show mechanical changes from humidity changes which would also add another variable beyond the weight. Although I don't have real data it does seem to me that the instruments I have "sealed" inside do seem more stable than those I have not.

Check inside the ferrule for excess solder in the joint between the flat and curved pieces of the ferrule. If the joint is not clean and straight inside then the wedge pressure will not be enough to hold the hair which will eventually migrate to the narrowest point.

The liquid swells? The wood treated with it? The reason I am asking is that I routinely used glair to slow moisture absorption or loss in wood. This is something I was taught by several teachers and I have been told by many people that my instruments seem to be noticably more stable than others and can handle fairly radical climate changes that were detrimental to some others. In particular a quartet which contained both a violin and a cello of mine reported that they had less trouble with those instruments touring in the far east and having concerts in Japan with very high humidity followed by Austrailia which was extremely dry and then back to a more humid area.. I have never found a scientific way to test the effectiveness of the treatment but the anectdotal reports have led to my continuing to use it. I have experimented with applying glair on paper and seen that there is a measurable stiffening effect especially when a small amount of alum is added. I also had an accidental experiment when I forgot about a small jar of glair in my refridgerator which eventually dried to a hard medium brown crystaline substance which has now been sitting in an open jar on my bench for some years with out changing and which does not get sticky or soften when wet.

David, How do you know it's hygroscopic? As in what happens to it that you can see or detect in some other way?

Absolutely!! Just had to deal with a minor repair on a gamba and they really are a pain in the neck.

I have also not seen many people using side mounted chin rests. In general I prefer over tailpiece Guarneri style unless some one specifically asks for something else or I see abnormal positioning of the instrument. Have any others noticed improved sound with side mouints?

indeed.

My own experience with those blades was not good. I processed maple logs with the narrow blades and had much better results than with wider, thin kerf blades. I also use the 1/4” hook blades to slice 3 mm cello ribs with no problems.

Hogo has given some great advice here. I would definitely make sure you get the best top plate possible out of the billet first then you should easily get a bass bar or two and then cut blocks if you have enough left over which you will if everything else goes well. With as much length as you have you might be OK to cut one slice off one end just long enough for blocks before resawing if you need to. A couple of suggestions regarding resawing on the band saw: Cupping or wandering cuts are due to either a dull blade or more likely a blade which is not clearing saw dust properly. If you are using a small saw such as a 14” Rockwell I would not use a “resaw” blade. The extra width creates too much drag for the small motor causing the blade to be pushed through the cut rather than pulled which makes the blade bend in the cut leading to cupping. A Regular 1/4” or 5/16” hook or skip tooth blade will not drag and will clear the dust much better. Also check the beginning of the cut carefully to make sure the resawing cut is perfectly centered and marked on both the top and bottom of the billet before proceeding with the cut and then feed the billet slowly watching the line and correcting even the slightest deviation before advancing the feed. The slow cut allows the blade to clear the dust properly. Remember that there will usually be a bias to the blade which will make it cut at a slight angle (lead) which you should not try to fight but let the saw cut as it wants to.

Interesting! I will try that also. In my experience paper or cloth will puncture from the sharp larger pieces and leak coarse gritty pieces long before the fine dust that I am looking for is achieved.