jchumley Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 I took up old time fiddle playing just before the pandemic shut everything down and have been consumed by it ever since. As a lifelong woodworker it was only a matter of time until I tried making a violin. I finished this my first one in October of 2024 and have been playing it a lot ever since. It has many warts which I could enumerate but I think instead I'll just share photos. I think for my first effort it turned out pretty well and it sounds quite good. It's based on Int'l Violin's Guarneri mold which I enlarged a bit. I'm 6'4 with long arms and large-ish hands and the fiddle's I play regularly are all more than 36cm so I upsized this one to 35.8cm because I wanted to. I used several books and many internet resources. The videos of @Davide Sora and Blog entries of @Michael Darnton were consistently helpful. I was also fortunate to receive gracious guidance from Larry Bowers, a retired violin maker that lives only 15 minutes from me so it turned out much better than it would have if I'd been left entirely to my own devices. Especially sound and finish-wise. I'm working on fiddle #2 now and my goal is to learn and improve with each one. I'll never be a master violin maker. At 67 years old It's too late for that but I hope to build two or three per year and enjoy the process for as long as I can.
IBK Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 Very nice for no.1. 67 is not too old. Best of luck forward.
Dr. Mark Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 20 minutes ago, jchumley said: I'll never be a master violin maker. At 67 years old It's too late for that ... Realism? Humility? Preparing for failure? An excuse for not making your best effort? Why not drop that kind of thinking, get some coffee, and get to work?
Brad Dorsey Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 9 minutes ago, jchumley said: ...I think for my first effort it turned out pretty well... I think so, too. Congratulations.
jchumley Posted January 18 Author Report Posted January 18 17 minutes ago, Dr. Mark said: Realism? Humility? Preparing for failure? An excuse for not making your best effort? Why not drop that kind of thinking, get some coffee, and get to work? Realism. I think I can master anything I put my mind to. That said, time in the shop has to fit in with rehearsals, gigs, jams and family time. I like it that way though.
Don Noon Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 42 minutes ago, jchumley said: I think for my first effort it turned out pretty well For sure. The only things I see that might be improved are the corners (which look a bit stubby to me) and the varnish, which seems to be limiting the contrast and pop of the maple. It's based on Int'l Violin's Guarneri mold ... I upsized this one to 35.8cm because I wanted to. It looks very similar to my 35.8cm generic Guarneri model. Great choice. Guarneri made them too small I'll never be a master violin maker. At 67 years old It's too late for that... Not necessarily. There's no telling where things will end up in 20 years.
Brad Dorsey Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 19 minutes ago, Don Noon said: ...the corners...look a bit stubby to me... I noticed that, too.
CFMartin Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 Please don’t put yourself down. Celebrate your accomplishments! I wish mine turns out half as good as yours when done! Congratulations!
jchumley Posted January 18 Author Report Posted January 18 1 hour ago, Don Noon said: For sure. The only things I see that might be improved are the corners (which look a bit stubby to me) and the varnish, which seems to be limiting the contrast and pop of the maple. Yes, the corners are stubby and if you look at all 8 of them they could be from 8 different fiddles. That's one of the things I'm hoping to improve on #2 shown here as it stands right now.
Christopher Jacoby Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 you've got style. study some violins and see where they are delicate-- the scroll/pegbox; the arching as it flows into the channel, and learn to take enough wood out and you're already light years ahead of a lot of the opinionated here.
Nick Allen Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 41 minutes ago, Christopher Jacoby said: you've got style. study some violins and see where they are delicate-- the scroll/pegbox; the arching as it flows into the channel, and learn to take enough wood out and you're already light years ahead of a lot of the opinionated here. Yeah. It takes a few fiddles to realize the minimum amount of wood required in most places. The scrolls and pegboxes of the old dudes are often more delicate than one would imagine. But it's just hard to visualize when carving everything out before the chamfers are worn away. I'm aware that at the Paris making competition, the majority of the violins there got low marks because the edges were too thick (~4.5mm).
Will Turner Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 For a first, I think it’s spectacular! I’m certain that each one you make will continue to be fantastic! At 55, my first wasn’t anywhere near as great. Particularly the varnish, while thin to preserve the sound, too uniform. Your method turned out great! My subsequent attempts have turned out great, but still a uniform application.
Shelbow Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 Looks wonderful, great job. I look forward to seeing No 2.
Don Noon Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 1 hour ago, Christopher Jacoby said: study some violins As many as possible. If a Guarneri style is you intent, study the corners of as many as you can get photos of. While they might vary quite a bit, they all have character worth imprinting on your brain so that you have a feel for what looks right.
Andreas Preuss Posted January 18 Report Posted January 18 7 hours ago, jchumley said: At 67 years old It's too late for that but I hope to build two or three per year and enjoy the process for as long as I can. Becoming a master is a mental process and you can if you want to. If not, making violins is certainly better than watching TV.
jchumley Posted January 19 Author Report Posted January 19 10 hours ago, Don Noon said: For sure. The only things I see that might be improved are the corners (which look a bit stubby to me) and the varnish, which seems to be limiting the contrast and pop of the maple. I wish I got more pop in the maple. I've build guitars with maple where the grain really pops but for some reason this ended up being kind of blah. I sealed with gelatin with a pinch of alum and used oldwood1700 mineral ground and clear oil varnish using their oil colors for the color coats. Any suggestions for a finish that shows off the maple would be appreciated.
Rue Posted January 19 Report Posted January 19 If that's your first violin, well, colour me impressed! It looks great! ...and just a little math: 3 violins per year × 30 years = a LOT of violins
Rue Posted January 19 Report Posted January 19 OT (sorta)... I have been listening to various podcasts (or similar) lately, while I work, and I tend to skim the comments afterwards (which I shouldn't ) ... and it seems like almost every comment starts with "I am xx years old, and I think...". Like, why? How is it relevant (with occasional exceptions)? Is this a sign of our own inherent ageism? Are we preemptively making excuses for our imperfections? Or are we virtue-signaling our experience? I've been busy learning a new skill this past year too. I never think to introduce myself by age. Just thinking out loud...
Andrew tkinson Posted January 19 Report Posted January 19 Hello, I am no expert but the fiddle looks great. It is great to be able to take a nice instrument you have made to a music session. I really enjoyed taking my first violin out in the white to the pub and other places to folk sessions etc. I let it get nicely coloured hanging in the window and was just about to varnish it after about 2 years and I put my glasses on and noticed the centre joint had parted! I now need to get the courage to take it apart and fix it. My next two violins (still unfinished!) have better soundboard joints and are cleated. Like you I am six feet four and have large hands but unlike you I am very slow to get started, maybe Dr. Mark could send me some his special Mr Hyde glue coffee, I believe he makes it in his lab a test tube in a erlenmeyer flask (conical flask in England)! Sorry about that! The corners on your next violin look good to me!
MikeC Posted January 19 Report Posted January 19 What varnish did you use? I like the brownish color. You're never too old to get good at something. I'm 63 and just working on number 2. For the first one it looks good and that back on number 2 looks even better in the corners and good clean purfling too.
jchumley Posted January 19 Author Report Posted January 19 1 minute ago, MikeC said: What varnish did you use? I like the brownish color. oldwood1700 clear varnish and oil colors. I have a dark brown and a red brown but I don't recall the actual color names.
Don Noon Posted January 19 Report Posted January 19 2 hours ago, jchumley said: I wish I got more pop in the maple. I've build guitars with maple where the grain really pops but for some reason this ended up being kind of blah. I sealed with gelatin with a pinch of alum and used oldwood1700 mineral ground and clear oil varnish using their oil colors for the color coats. Any suggestions for a finish that shows off the maple would be appreciated. My #1 suggestion is to have lots of maple to do lots of tests before using something on a finished violin. There are endless discussions about infinite combinations of materials and processes for varnishing here on MN, if you care to spend the time going thru it all. I have a few basic concepts: The amount of penetration and wetting make a huge difference. Gelatin, glue, and other water-based coatings don't do that well, and look washed-out unless perhaps extremely diluted. Oil is great at wetting and penetration, although excessive... adding weight, damping, and giving flames a burned look, unless thickened to limit these effects. My personal preference is a resin/solvent, or "spirit" sealer coating, with just a slight bit of color. Terpene resin works for me. Color on the wood has to be very restrained, but I think it helps the look. I have tried many "oil colors" and never found anything as transparent as I wanted. I have some promising alizarin varnish that I haven't tried yet. Transparent dyes don't survive in oil varnishes, unfortunately. I'll sometimes add a small amount of dye in the spirit coat, where the dye won't die. This could go on forever, but I'll quit here.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now