Thomas Coleman

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/arts/music/stradivarius-sound-bank-recording-cremona.html

Looking forward to it!

Thanks E. It is not my design. I like it as well. It's not seen near as often as some of the others. The most prominent example is on the Henry Casadesus viola d'amore. There are also a few exmples of it in literature. The one in Kevin Coates' book is a slight variation.

Very nice looking ground and work. Looking forward to future posts!

Thanks! I appreciate the kind words. Both plates are graduated and the soundholes are cut. Now on to bassbar.

Awesome! Is the follower aftermarket? Please post of photo of the lathe and copier?

I can't imagine what a p.i.t.a. that repair would be. Your job looks admirable and already starts the story of the instrument. Ryan's Triangle repair is pure wizardry. Can you make it full of scuffs and dings and scratches? At any rate, it looks like you did a fine job considering

So, both the arches are done. I meant to take pictures of my graduation drilling method with the v'da but I forgot! I'll use ones from a violin. Same process. I hope to build a Strad punch someday but until then... The idea for using the clamp pad as the anvil was stolen from my good friend and mentor Will Whedbee after lamenting to him that my graduation markings were occasionally too deep. He also suggested that I use a smaller bit than I was using as that would tend to pull the work up into the bit less. I like to do a preliminary gouging before I drill for graduations. The top is graduated to a uniform 4mm and the back to about 1mm over "final". Anyway, progress is being made. IMG_5211.mov

Sorry I can't be of assistance but I had to add that I think it's pretty cool. I'm interested to learn more as well.

please don't touch the varnish!

Have you tried contacting him?

Cool. Alder ribs as well? I've thought that Alder could be an interesting choice for violas. In a previous life I used alder quite often. Not too dissimilar from poplar or willow.

Thanks E. The arch on both maple and spruce is 18mm Here are a few more photos. Although I like doing the channel I find it to be painstaking and slow. Second photo is a pencil line on the joint, not a huge canyon! haha

I'm sad to say that they don't look available anymore. And that doesn't surprise me. Since the purchase of Japan woodworker by Woodcraft i've noticed that they've been downsizing. I did find two for sale on ebay that were a decent price. Thanks! Tommy on the edge of his seat too! haha

The roughing gouge is a japanese gouge sold by Japan Woodworker and marketed specifically as a violin roughing gouge. I love it. It holds an edge like you can't believe. It is 30mm wide and I think about a 5 sweep. The cutting radius is around 50mm. The grind angle is about 29º but to be honest I didn't know that until I just measured it. I try for a bevel length of about 2 (up to 2 1/2) times the thickness. In this case the thickness of the blade is about 4mm and the bevel length is 9mm. The steel on the gouge is very hard and therefore brittle and it took me a go or two to hone in on the right angle (pun intended).