Thomas Coleman

I do hollow grind my chisels. I use a Baldor slow speed grinder (1800rpm) with 6" Norton 3x wheels. I prefer this to a Tormek. I just feel it's a little more versatile as far as tool shaping goes. Agreed.

The Baroque fiddle turned out awesome!

Sorry to hear about Dmitri's Grandmother. Please let him know that we're rooting for him and that everyone on Mnet has made mistakes in making. Looking forward to seeing him finish his instrument. I'm certain that he can do it!!

Thanks Fox. If I'm very objective I think it looks "OK"...which is not bad, just still not what I'd like to see.

Thanks for the kind words Joe. It's obvious to me that I still have far to go. One thing I'd like to do different is the addition of many many more micro scratches. It certainly comes as no surprise to me, but antiquing is very challenging. Excelsior OR as you might say...on we go

Hello and welcome Shane. Shellac, excretions from the lac bug, is not a very durable finish. It is prone to chipping. I'm of the opinion (not worth much) that violin varnishes would not be very suitable for a knife handle. Unless you're trying to recreate an historically accurate look I would think an epoxy finish would be your best bet.

You could possibly pierce the back of the pegbox, similar to a viola d'amore?

Well said. And like @Bill Yacey I would not trust gorilla glue for anything short of a kids science fair project.

Awesome baroque! Is the neck nailed? Nice work as always.

I'll soon start a baroque guitar, Stradivari, using plans by Jan van Cappelle. One of the daunting parts was the rosette so I decided to do some practice. Here is my first completed rosette. Not as nice as the laser cut ones you can buy but I'm pleased and confident that I'll be able to make something halfway decent. I'll make the actual rosette about 3mm larger than this one. Here I used pearwood and archival cotton paper (used by many contemporary makers). I'd still like to try actual parchment as I suspect that it'll be tougher than the cotton paper. I'm still researching and practicing but hope to start on the guitar ,in earnest, in the next coupla' weeks.

I totally agree.

Two votes for Matt's layout.

My latest violin. I don't antique instruments in general but for several reasons decided to do it on this one. The last photo looks like there is white wood in one of the scars but that's just a reflection. Lots to learn. Excelsior. I'm very pleased with how it sounds.

Nice! There are so many instruments that I'd like to make but a Strad style guitar is very high on the list. Good job.

Looking good Dmitri! What's been your favorite task so far? What has been the hardest?