Brian Timmons's Bench

[Brian in Texas]

Here is violin #1 after the 3rd coat of varnish. The last coat left a nasty drip under the treble f-hole.

[Andrew tkinson]

Hello Brian. I am no expert, but your varnishing is looking good to me.

I also find it interesting that the difference in colour tone of the piece of wood you have as background shows me how "realistic" "consistent" photography of colours is not as straight forward as someone, not too technical, like me would hope!

[Brian in Texas]

29 minutes ago, Andrew tkinson said:

Hello Brian. I am no expert, but your varnishing is looking good to me.

I also find it interesting that the difference in colour tone of the piece of wood you have as background shows me how "realistic" "consistent" photography of colours is not as straight forward as someone, not too technical, like me would hope!

Thank you. And yeah, the background is just the plywood floor in my shop.

[Brian in Texas]

I bent some ribs for the viola yesterday. 

 

[Sean Couch]

Hey Brian, violin #1 looks nice, I like the color. Is it any more difficult making a viola than a violin? I am pondering making one for my next project after violin #2. I like the lower frequencies and was thinking about making a cello, but I think that may be a pipe dream with my current abilities, not to mention the tools I would need to buy.

[Brian in Texas]

14 hours ago, Sean Couch said:

Hey Brian, violin #1 looks nice, I like the color. Is it any more difficult making a viola than a violin? I am pondering making one for my next project after violin #2. I like the lower frequencies and was thinking about making a cello, but I think that may be a pipe dream with my current abilities, not to mention the tools I would need to buy.

Thanks! I'm not far along enough to comment on whether or not there's relative difficulty with the viola versus violin. I imagine it'll be much of the same, just slightly larger. Tuning the plates will be different, for sure.

As for making a cello, I grew up playing the instrument. So naturally, I absolutely have to make one someday soon. It's a moral imperative.

[ChrisBk]

Hi Brian, looks good, how happy are you with the sound of your first violin? 

i coulnt watch all of the videos yet, what kind of varnish did you use?

good luck with the viola!

chris

[Brian in Texas]

5 hours ago, ChrisBk said:

Hi Brian, looks good, how happy are you with the sound of your first violin? 

i coulnt watch all of the videos yet, what kind of varnish did you use?

good luck with the viola!

chris

I haven't finished it completely yet. It still needs pegs, bridge, and a soundpost. I used the Joha brand oil varnish from International Violin. It came out much more bright orange than I would've cared for, despite buying the red-brown varnish (and its separate color extract additive). I think I'm going to try the Old Wood brand for my next one.

Last night I started carving the arching on the back. That European poplar is some hairy stuff that likes to chip out. I couldn't find a glove for my left hand and ended up bleeding on the workpiece. But is an instrument ever truly yours if you haven't bled for it?

[ernym]

1 hour ago, Brian in Texas said:

Last night I started carving the arching on the back. That European poplar is some hairy stuff that likes to chip out. I couldn't find a glove for my left hand and ended up bleeding on the workpiece. 

Peroxide will remove blood stains.

[Brian in Texas]

18 hours ago, ernym said:

Peroxide will remove blood stains.

Good to know! It was just a little bit though, nothing near the amount it would take to really soak into the wood.

[ChrisBk]

On 5/13/2025 at 7:52 PM, Brian in Texas said:

I haven't finished it completely yet. It still needs pegs, bridge, and a soundpost. I used the Joha brand oil varnish from International Violin. It came out much more bright orange than I would've cared for, despite buying the red-brown varnish (and its separate color extract additive). I think I'm going to try the Old Wood brand for my next one.

Last night I started carving the arching on the back. That European poplar is some hairy stuff that likes to chip out. I couldn't find a glove for my left hand and ended up bleeding on the workpiece. But is an instrument ever truly yours if you haven't bled for it?

Hi Brian, 

right, there needs to be blood, sweat, but hopefully not many tears. we have a glove from microplane which we use in the kitchen when using the veggie plane (no idea how else to call it) 

right now i am trying to not forget anything before closing the soundbox- for example I am thinking of reinforcing the top center joint with some small veneer pieces, because i sadly used fishglue (because of the cold climate)(joint looks flawless though) and writing something meaningful into the inside...also taking some measurements and angles for the soundpost

btw....how did you leave the inside surfaces? raw but clean and smooth or treated with something? lucas fabro paints something but i dont know what it is....hhg or shellac? will leave it as is.

good luck, 

chris

[Brian in Texas]

52 minutes ago, ChrisBk said:

btw....how did you leave the inside surfaces? raw but clean and smooth or treated with something? lucas fabro paints something but i dont know what it is....hhg or shellac? will leave it as is.

good luck, 

chris

I went with "raw but clean" on the inside. I thought about doing shellac or albumin, but decided to just keep it simple for now.

[MikeC]

52 minutes ago, ChrisBk said:

 

btw....how did you leave the inside surfaces? raw but clean and smooth or treated with something? lucas fabro paints something but i dont know what it is....hhg or shellac? will leave it as is.

 

I purchased some of Lucas Fabro's course material,  just parts of it.   I don't recall right now what he used but I'll check on that later.   

I am contemplating using gum tragacanth as a sealing coat on the inside and maybe on the end grain on the outside.   

[PawelP]

1 hour ago, ChrisBk said:

right now i am trying to not forget anything before closing the soundbox

I was using casein treatment as shown by Davide Sora. 

soundpost reference lines  drawn on the top plate were quite helpful for me during setup

[MikeC]

1 hour ago, ChrisBk said:

lucas fabro paints something but i dont know what it is....hhg or shellac? will leave it as is.

 

he uses UV and sodium nitrate for color.  Then coats with turpentine and mastic.  In the video he then shows a less expensive method using fish gelatin as a sealer.   

[Urban Luthier]

nice to see your work progress... well done!

[Brian in Texas]

I borrowed a peg reamer and shaver from a local guy, so I'll be fitting the pegs and end button on the violin soon. Next I'll be farming out work on the bridge and soundpost to someone much more experienced. This is for the simple reason that the only way it'll sound good is if someone that's very skilled at bridges and soundposts works on it. And I'm not going to be in that camp until I've done at least 50 of each, I bet.

Meanwhile, work progresses on the viola for my friend. The rib garland is done except for some sanding to taper the neck block down to about 33mm. So it's on to rough carving the back. The long arch has been established, now it's time to work those edges down and establish the other archings.

Some makers are so neat and tidy in their processes that even their rough carving looks beautiful and orderly. Yeah, I'm not there yet, either. Looks more like it's been attacked by a pack of rabid badgers.

[Brian in Texas]

Did some more work last night trying to get the back archings a bit more into rough shape. I can see why poplar isn't as widely used as maple now. This is some seriously hairy stuff that just loves to tear out. I purchased a toothed blade for my 18mm finger plane, but that won't fit into the more narrow contours. This is gonna be "interesting" (a huge pain in the butt) going forward.

[Brian in Texas]

Still plugging away over here.

[Brian in Texas]

Continuing work on the outer arching of the viola back, using figured European poplar. I need to throw together a Sacconi compass to check the evenness of the curves next.

Also, my first violin should be finished on Sunday. I'm meeting with an old luthier coworker who'll be cutting a bridge and soundpost for me. I figure that the only way to do a good job at either task is to have already done it dozens of times. So this time I'll be letting him do a better job than I can, while taking copious notes and looking over his shoulder.

Next I'll be meeting with some local player (or players) who can give it a proper spin around the block. I play cello and can't really do a violin justice.

[Brian in Texas]

My first violin is DONE! 

 

[Brian in Texas]

Took some glamor shots of violin #1 last night, thanks to my good photographer friend.

Tomorrow afternoon, the two of us will be visiting with a violin teacher at his music school. We'll be taking video of him performing on my violin, so we can finally hear what it sounds like in the hands of a skilled player. You all really don't want to hear how I (an out of practice cellist) make this violin sound.

[Will Turner]

Absolutely amazing work!   

[Brian in Texas]

3 hours ago, Will Turner said:

Absolutely amazing work!   

Thank you! This feels like a real milestone in my life. For the longest time, the goal of wanting to build my own violin seemed like a completely unattainable goal. A lot of things feel more within my grasp now. 

[Brian in Texas]

Yesterday I got to hear my first violin played for the first time!