MJ Kwan

Preliminary analysis of the Luthier Income Survey will be discussed during the Financial Freedom Panel at 12:30pm ET. That’s today! In 10 hours! Get your ticket to the Women in Lutherie Conference now: https://www.eventbee.com/v/womeninlutherie#/tickets

Reminder to those who plan to take the survey to submit by Sep 30.

It asks for income from lutherie-related work only. Part-timers are welcome to take it. You can read through and decide whether it seems appropriate to fill out. Answers are not submitted until the end.

Women In Lutherie is hosting a Luthier Income Survey: https://forms.gle/yrKpCD7MY25JQdhw9 Summary / analysis will be posted to all the places the survey will be. Individual responses will be kept strictly confidential. Take it by September 30, takes ~15-20 min to complete.

Still available?

Hi, I have an extra set. I sent a PM.

Here’s part 2 of this project. https://fixitwithshading.com/2018/01/13/fingerboard-geometry-part-2-scoop-vs-radius/ Enjoy!

Hello all, Thanks for participating. Please find the results of the survey here: http://fixitwithshading.com/2017/12/26/fingerboard-geometry-part-1-survey-dimensions/ More analysis to come.

Hmm, I'm a little late to the thread. Did you end up making one? Some students are turned off by the school jointer because the sole changes almost daily. They are easier to adjust, but be sure to seal the body very well, or you will be adjusting almost every jointing session. In that video you can see the jointer body itself is actually popping at all the seams because it was never well sealed. So shellac it a bunch once you've made it, especially at the mouth where there's a lot of endgrain exposure, and it will be much more stable.

By the way, Joe Grubaugh came to our school campaigning for everyone to start calling that part of the scroll the Nape.

Thanks yall. And what about your lower limit of humidity and temp? (I'm in Chicago) Can anyone give rough equivalents of time in lightbox vs time in the sun (or out on a cloudy day, etc)? Better yet, anyone have comparison images? Does the color result come out the same after lightbox and after sunning?

In what range of temperature / humidity / sun conditions are you comfortable with putting your white instrument outside to darken? For how long do you keep it out there at a time? Do you turn it often? Any other suntanning cautions and tips?

I'm about to carve the fluting on my first cello scroll. It's patterned after the Strad Gore-Booth. Just want to see any clean, crisp examples of the detail on the back of the cello scroll (the little thingy opposite the nut). Typical or otherwise, I want to see them all. (Also, what do you call that part?) Thanks!

Thanks for the link, Jacob, I didn't know it was called that.

Anyone have specific feelings or reasonings for graduating right up to the edges of the endblock vs leaving a big ol ledge straight across? Diagram here: http://wp.me/a4i09z-Cb

I'm entering my 3rd year at the Chicago school, and would be happy to answer some questions. If you're in Pittsburgh, you might also try contacting Josh Beyer, who graduated from CSVM somewhat recently. http://beyerlutherie.com/ There is indeed one trimester (out of the 9 trimesters to graduate) dedicated solely to repair and setup, taught by Henni Hahn. They just started doing this 2 years ago. One interesting difference between VMSA and CSVM that I didn't know about until recently: The hours at CSVM are pretty strictly limited - you don't work on your school instruments (including the graduation exam) outside of school hours. I think the idea is that everyone's on equal footing - those who must work to support themselves are not at a time disadvantage. By contrast, VMSA requires you to be a self-sufficient builder by the time you finish - your graduation exam is done at home with your tools in your own space. I'm not sure but I think you can work on school instruments outside of hours at VMSA. Other unspoken difference: CSVM students tend to finish in 9 or 10 trimesters. I'm under the impression (but not 100% sure) that the VMSA curriculum takes closer to 4 years to complete (3 years for international students), but students are all ready and set up to build immediately after they graduate. Not everyone at CSVM has a full tool set and home workshop set up when they graduate.

Thanks yall. Too much water could be it. I've been dunking and wiping off the water with my hand immediately after. Maybe I should not dunk... It's hard to see in the photos, but the mould is actually pretty thick - barely got room for linings. The wrinkles seem pretty independent of the form. I agree about appreciating some mild gradual waviness over the width of the rib, but I can't embrace these isolated stripes of tight little v-shaped wrinkles... they make me think of soft-story collapses in buildings, ugh! I think this is more than I'd want to scrape: Also sometimes the wrinkle is indenting, not protruding (another reason why I think the issue is independent of the mould): They are pretty furry looking - I'll definitely try cutting down on pre-wetting the ribs. A bunch of people at school are about to bend cello ribs. I'll suggest trying less water if they're getting wrinkles. Still curious if anyone has noticed clues in the wood itself. Is a piece of wood predetermined to wrinkle in that one spot?

I haaaate ripples along the grain in cello ribs. The ribs I bent are supposedly all from the same chunk of tree, so I don't understand why some of them got the strong wrinkle and some not at all. Makes me want to blame the wood rather than my technique. So I guess my question has two parts: 1. Looking at unbent ribs, are there any signs that can tell if one's going to be a ripple-prone rib? Is it variation in grain? Did I thickness unevenly? Does it have something to do with seasoning? 2. Does anyone have some technique tips to share on minimizing the ripple? Photo comparing the two C-bouts below.... one has a nasty wrinkle and one does not, though they are from the same piece of wood. (This is my first cello.)

That's possible... at school, people don't like to use super freshly-made glue for really important things like center joints. Maybe we'll have to try testing that. (More excuses to break stuff, yay.) Does that mean dissolve in water, heat it up, cool it until it turns to jello, and then heat a second time and use?

Thanks for the mention, DarylG! I've heard that a lot of places sell hide glue made by Milligan & Higgins. You should be able to order directly from the source using the contact info on their site: http://www.milligan1868.com/glue.html

Hello all, I'm new to all this... I'm looking for a mic to start taking mode info as well. This is for the Chicago School, which has limited space so we need a compact setup that we can stash easily, and that is easy enough for less tech-minded students to set back up. (I'll try to stress setting up the same way in the room every time.) Shure is releasing a line of easy-to-use mics very soon. They're not out yet but can anyone assess from the release & brochure info whether they'd be a good choice for the job? http://www.shure.com/americas/news-events/press-releases/shure-unveils-new-motiv-digital-product-line-and-ios-mobile-recording-app I'm looking specifically at MV5 - $99. Good enough? Or better off with some other recommended equipment listed in this thread?