TerryOnStrings

Thanks for all the responses and sharing your experiences. I'm not at all surprised to see a variety of different solutions being used successfully. I think that's great. I'll pick as few of these to try an see what works for me. I have some extra purfling and spruce cutoffs to experiment with.

I hesitate asking questions about tool recommendations because everyone has different preferences and opinions, but I'm struggling to find clear information about the type of knife to use for cutting the purfling channel after it's marked. Searching for a 'purfling knife' typically gives results for purfling markers, and I already have one of these. I also see results that include the double-beveled Hock violin knife, which I'm sure is a great tool, but I'd think a single-bevel blade would be more appropriate here. So here goes... any recommendations for a purfling knife for a first build? Angled tip? Rounded tip? Note as woodworker I'm used to making custom tools, but with all the new tools, jigs, molds etc. I've already made for this first build, I'd really prefer to just buy a decent knife and get back to work. Thanks, Terry

Thanks for the replies. Glad that everyone agrees this wood will be fine for a first instrument. Now I just need to decide at which end to place the angled grain. I can see an argument for both. I agree putting it under the fingerboard will hide the converging grain at the center-line. But it also seems that with the fingerboard tapering in toward the scroll and the grain flaring out on either side, it might actually accentuate the splay. But maybe that's not necessarily a bad thing? Not sure if that is clear so here's some ASCII art showing the proposed grain-fingerboard-grain at the upper bout: (\\\\\ / \ ////) As far as the planing challenge Nathan mentioned, he is right, but I've already tackled that problem. After experiencing tear-out from either direction I switched to a high-angle frog (55 degrees) and was able to get a good clean, tight-fitting joint.

Hi all. I am a long-time woodworker and amateur-musician working on building my first violin. I've obtained some spruce for the top but unfortunately, the blank was apparently cut near a branch because the grain curves out and back in along the length, not unlike a violin bow. So it is impossible to get a straight-grained joint. This is my first build and I expect it to be a learning experience (mistakes included), so while I'm disappointed in the quality of the wood, I'm prepared to move forward for the experience. See the attached images (note this is in early stages of planing). My questions are: 1) Would any professional luthier ever use wood with diverging grain like this? I've personally never seen an such an instrument. 2) Other than aesthetics, would this wood present any structural or sound quality issues? 3) The change of grain occurs near the end of the board so that it would impact about 70mm of the top. Would there be a preference in having this divergence of grain at the upper or lower bout? Thanks for your thoughts and comments, Terry