
Shunyata
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First time amateur violin build in progress
Shunyata replied to Brian in Texas's topic in The Pegbox
Sloped corner blocks are closer to the shape you want in the finished garland and it is easier to remove the mold when they are sloped. Yes it is a nusiance to cut them. Give some careful thought to the clamp hole placement/size to simplify clamping the blocks into a sloped mold. -
First time amateur violin build in progress
Shunyata replied to Brian in Texas's topic in The Pegbox
Again, I am self-taught… If you cut the mortise after gluing the plates, you can’t use a saw. A saw allows a fast, accurate first pass at roughing out the mortise. I use locating pins for my plates, so I can still be sure that I am locating the mortise properly. -
First time amateur violin build in progress
Shunyata replied to Brian in Texas's topic in The Pegbox
For neck set, first watch Davide Sora’s videos… especially the templates he uses to guide orientation. I am self taught, but my approach is this. 1. Cut the mortise in the violin body. I do this before putting the plates on using a fine dozuki saw, using the neck tenon to scribe the cuts. Cut inside the scribe and use a wide chisel or knife to gradually widen the mortise until the neck tenon just fits, snugly. 2. Glue the plates on and cut out the notch in the top plate and shape so the neck tenon just fits. 3. Shape the flat of the mortise until the fingerboard points in a straight line to the end pin. See how Davide does this. 4. Shape the flat of the mortise until the fingerboard projection heights is right. I use a large rubber band to hold the bridge in the proper location and check against this. See what Davide does. 5. Shave the button face of the neck tenon and adjust width of mortise to get overstand height right and and even overstand on both treble and base side. 6. Fine tune all prior steps and chalk fit for perfect contact surfaces. See what Davide does. 7. Check it all again, at least three times. Removing the neck and reseating each time. 8. See Davide’s gluing approach… it works flawlessly. -
Chlorine might be useful If your goal is to bleach your violin and make it whiter… or to destroy your mucosal tissues. Peroxide is a safer bleaching agent.
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Wonderful first attempt… you should be very proud! It took me a half dozen attempts to do as well. I don’t know too much about baroque style construction. But coming from a modern instrument view, a few thoughts for your next attempt… The points are a little too pointy, although this is a matter of taste. It takes a little geometry thought to figure out how handle the block shapes to control that. The scroll is very nicely done. The fluting on the back around the outside is a little deep and circular. A flatter fluting gives a little nicer look, although this again is a matter of taste. Where the neck joins the pegbox is a little heavy, and likewise where the neck joins the heel. This will be apparent when you play. A little fluting of the f-holle wings would add to the elegance. Again keep up the awesome work… it is an addictive journey!
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Honestly, I think a temperature controlled hot plate (which I have anyway for varnish making) and a heavy steel beaker is more convenient. Might feel differently if I needed large quantities or to have it sitting around hot all day.
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I should sell my HoldHeet pot given the going prices!
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Mineral spirits often contains benzene contamination, which is carcinogenic and is associated with lymphoma. I know a cabinet maker who use mi real spirits in his spray finishes and wound up with lymphoma. I will take turpentine every time. For varnish cleanup, I use d-limonene. Natural citrus product, fully nontoxic, anti cancer properties when ingested, and a stronger solvent than mineral spirits.
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Polarizing filters and Instrument Photography
Shunyata replied to Dwight Brown's topic in The Pegbox
It doesn’t… although it generally reduces light. If you use a wider aperture to correct for that you would get a lower depth of field, though. A longer exposure would not do that. -
Church hall is very warm which creates very low humidity and makes the hair shrink very markedly. (Humidity is a function of both moisture level and temperature.) It happens. A looser hair job will help with this issue. Humidity that low isn’t great on the violin either… although it is slower to react than bow hair.
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Building structures in the chaparral must be done with extreme respect for fires risks, with supporting infrastructure. One the conflagration takes hold, it incinerates everything, regardless of construction. So extreme measures must be in place to prevent this. Those measures are quite expensive (and not always very attractive)… and inevitably get shortcut. My wishes and thoughts are with the victims of this tragedy. Their personal loss must be impossible to bear.
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That is exactly how I do it… but I learned Davide’s video! Before I doing it this way, I attached the neck before gluing the back. While this makes clamping easier, it is difficult to get the neck positioning and projection height right. Any flexure in the ribs throws everything off. Doing it Davide’s way has been much more successful for me because the body is rigid while you are determining the neck angles.
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Pic 10, upper center is a fitting puller, not a clamp as is used for removing pressure-fit faucet handles. Grippers go around the handle, screw puts pressure on center pin to pop the handle off the pin.
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I haven’t bushed an instrument. But from doing similar things, my experience is that the steel in the chisel makes all the difference. An extremely hard steel (like Japanese paper steel) holds an edge that is much sharper than ordinary steel. My nomi chisels are much sharper than Stubai gouges and chisels. That extra sharpness makes a real difference. … and magnifiers!
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Mostly not-fiddle-making. If I am shaping a billet I cut/split myself from a tree, for example. Can’t see rough shaping a plate the way that has been discussed here… but I would use a nata before I used an axe!