Renée Posted February 8, 2015 Report Posted February 8, 2015 On request from a few others here, I'm going to document the build process of my first violin. It's something I've wanted to do for a long time. I've built a couple of other instruments (22 string lap harp and an alto rebec) but they're not quite as complex or have the same level of pedantic attention to detail that a violin requires.We'll see how I go, yes?I took inspiration from Ernie's "Long Pattern Strad ..." thread - as he has so generously documented his instrument, and there were some good tidbits from Roger Hargrave along the way. That led me to picking the 1694 Muir Mackenzie as a reference. Another reason for picking this instrument is the mould (B form) is on the poster, so I didn't need to worry about creating it (from the outline).Over the past few weeks, I've had more tools, wood, posters and other bits arrive in the mail. It's been a steady stream of christmas all month I made 3 copies of the back of the poster, one laminated for a shop reference, and the other two for transferring onto the mould and half-template.Courtesy of cdavies' retirement, I obtained a few gouges and some aged wood for much later. (Very nice steel and wood!)The wood for this instrument came from Old World Tonewoods. It's reaonably flamed and a few years old. Definitely good for a first instrument.Still not sure what I'll varnish it with. I did get some bottles of "oil varnish" from International Violin, but there are no details to be had on its composition, so maybe I'll use that, maybe I won't. That decision will be made after I've done some colour tests.I will be sugar grounding it, thank you jezzupe for your research there!There has been some tool building, and I daresay that'll keep happening over the course of this instrument. (Mwoar clamps!)In the attached pic, there's a poster to the left, some shiny gouges, my first attempt at the mould, the Old Old wood to the right (No touchy!), the OldWorld wood up the back, and a pack of 15 ribs in the middle.That stack of ribs will become test pieces - for varnish tests, planing and scraping practice and learning how to bend them.
Renée Posted February 8, 2015 Author Report Posted February 8, 2015 We'll start with the tools. One Strad style graduation punch. Made from bits of wood lying around. (We all have spare wood, right?) It's not as robust as the original, but it seems to do the job. I tested it out on the top for a tenor rebec that's also "in progress".
Renée Posted February 8, 2015 Author Report Posted February 8, 2015 On advice from Evan, I scraped & bent some ribs to see how they'd fit on the mould and the outline. Glad I picked up that pack of spare ribs!The points were a little too far out (leaving minimal overhang), so the half template got a bit of a trim. The willow as supplied was cut (not split) but is pretty damn close to the grain. I still tested the direction each piece split in while cutting them to shape, to make sure that the later trimming steps won't split the wrong way and undercut themselves. The run off was slight, but still noticable. The blocks are still a little high (33-34mm), they need to be trimmed down to about 31mm before getting actually glued in. The Mould is now complete and ready. All gluing surfaces are confirmed to be at 90 degrees and sized Amusing occurence of the day. I had the glue pot warming on the bench and as soon as took the lid off, my outdoor companion critter Yuki jumped up on the bench and stuck her nose in the pot! but it's delicious mum, why can't I eat it?
Rue Posted February 8, 2015 Report Posted February 8, 2015 Very cool! Looking forward to seeing how you and Yuki get on!
Craig Tucker Posted February 8, 2015 Report Posted February 8, 2015 Very cool! Looking forward to seeing how you and Yuki get on! Me too. Yuki may need to give you some advice about continuing forward. Cats are really pretty no-nonsense animals - I'd listen! Renee - thanks for keeping us informed about your progress. I'm curious to see what you do with the rib material that you've got there. I'm also curious, if you have your own band saw, or access to one? Cutting your own rib material, can be lots of fun - if and when you run out and once you cut some, and see how easy it is, there is no longer a necessity to use it very sparingly...
Guest Posted February 8, 2015 Report Posted February 8, 2015 Glad to see this thread up and running. You are off to a great start.
Will L Posted February 8, 2015 Report Posted February 8, 2015 We're all rooting for you. Thanks for sharing your adventure.
Renée Posted February 9, 2015 Author Report Posted February 9, 2015 Me too. Yuki may need to give you some advice about continuing forward. Cats are really pretty no-nonsense animals - I'd listen! Renee - thanks for keeping us informed about your progress. I'm curious to see what you do with the rib material that you've got there. I'm also curious, if you have your own band saw, or access to one? Cutting your own rib material, can be lots of fun - if and when you run out and once you cut some, and see how easy it is, there is no longer a necessity to use it very sparingly... Something tells me that I'll *not* be sticking my nose into hot hide glue! Yuki is definitely ... no, the other way around, I am definitely her human. Note those claws? They're well embedded in my top. That's possession, right there. I have two power tools/machines in this little shed - a 12" bandsaw and a pedestal drill press. Everything else is hand-powered. I use both quite regularly. The bandsaw made easy work of cutting the outline for the mould. The ribs were supplied as 5 individual pieces, thinned to ~1.5mm already. They look a little like these ones, which is the pack of spares. My resawing skills are ... still somewhat less than ideal, so I'm thankful I'll not be wasting good wood on this first instrument. I will learn how to resaw at some point, just not quite yet. Progress on the ribs is going to be delayed a little - I'm still waiting on some toothed plane blades to arrive. I've tried using the #4 set with a very fine cut, but there's still tearout.
DBurns Posted February 9, 2015 Report Posted February 9, 2015 Hey just found this thread and am enjoying it. Keep up the good work! Just thought a nice little bump to the top might help others enjoy it too. >>> Roger Hargrave has on his website the Muir Mackenzie! For those interested. http://www.roger-hargrave.de/Seiten/english/Bibliothek/Bibliothek.htm Look for: "Antonio Stradivari 'Maria Exmuir Mackenzie' 1694Description and measurements: Roger Hargrave."
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