Violin Forum/Message Board

[OyvindT]

My first violin in the white is almost done, still some rough edges, and plenty of mistakes. I made it from a stradivarius 1720 pattern in a old norwegian book about violinmaking, and used the book as a guide.

Some of the steps in the building process where not explained very good (about 25% of the book is violin history, 50% is making varnish, and the remaining 25% is related to putting a violin together).
But i still got more things right than wrong i think.

The biggest mistake i think is the neck angle, if you look at the picture from the side, its clear that there is not enough angle on the neck, i want to reset the neck before i varnish it if its possible.
Everything is assembled with hide glue, so it should be possbile to get it loose without damaging anything i hope.

I also did not have a peg reamer, so i fitted the pegs with a round file, they stick and slip abit, so its somewhat hard to tune it, getting a finetuner on the e helped alot.

Its also missing the purfling at the moment because i still need to get a purfling cutter, and the corners need some work.

I had never touched a violin before i started this, so i cant really play, but i have learned a few things ( twinkle, twinkle and major scales in first possition). It sounded quite bad at first, very shrill, loud and ear piercing, but after fitting a new soundpost and some cutting of the bridge it sounds much better.




By ting42 at 2010-01-27




By ting42 at 2010-01-27




By ting42 at 2010-01-27


Hope you like it

Can anyone comment on the neck angle?

[FiddleDoug]

In most cases, the end of the fingerboard should be about 20-21 mm above the front. String clearance at the end of the fingerboard should be about 3.5 mm for the E string, and about 5.5 mm for the G string. If your measurements are off from these, you should reset the neck. as an alternative, you could also put a wedge under the fingerboard to raise the angle up, but resetting would be my choice.
_________________
Doug Wall

www.wallindependent.com

[OyvindT]

The end of the fingerboard is 16 mm above the front, string clearance is 3.5 mm E and 5,5 mm G, but thats because the bridge is cut quite low.

I guess i will have to try a neck reset in the weekend.

[L P Reedy]

The bridge doesn't look that low to me. If it is 30 mm or higher at the center I would leave it alone rather than do a reset.

[Chet Bishop]

Good work! Now go get a peg shaper and reamer, and make or buy a purfling marker, and you are all set.

Some have successfully used purfling markers made from a pair of dividers, or other home-made rigs. You can do it. The reamer is pretty much a necessity. Lots of people have built peg shapers, too, but I would buy one, myself. (I made one for bass endpins, and it works fine, but that is pretty specialized. I like my adjustable shapers for violins, violas and cellos.)

Chet
_________________
Chet Bishop
https://bluefiddles.com
https://fivestringfiddles.com

[dvsutton]

Very nice! Very 'clean' looking, does look a bit naked without the purfling, also your bridge looks like it is leaning the wrong way. For my first I didn't have a purfling marker, so i drew the lines by hand then cut em with an exacto knife...
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on #13 now...

[dvsutton]

As to the neck angle, i am no pro but i would approach it as i have learned to approach every situation in life, if you think you can make it better go for it...if you think you will make it worse, leave it alone!

Sometimes i think i can make it better only to find that i have made it worse, but.....Life Is A Journey.
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on #13 now...

[OyvindT]

The bridge is exactly 30mm in the middle. I corrected the lean on the bridge, guess i was not paying enough attention when i tuned it the last couple of times.
I will get a purfling marker when i get my next salary.

I think i could probably reset the neck successfully, but perhaps i dont have to, im not planning to try selling my first one anyway, so this is just for me to play on.

I also think i may have graduated it a little thick, there was no graduation maps in my book so i found on of the canone on the internet, i later found out that the canone was a very thick violin.

I have started work on a second violin because i had 3 sets of wood, i think its european maple and spruce, but im not 100% shure, it had been lying in an attic for almost 60 years before a friend of mine inherited the house and offered the wood to me because i have build a couple of electric guitars.
There was a set of strings with the wood that i strung it up with, i think they are steel core, so that may account for some of the brightness of the sound.

i am also thinking about the varnish, my old book has alot of recipes, but they are all quite complicated, and time consuming, about half of them calls for sun thickening oil for 6 months.

I have looked at a couple of stores in america, but it seems they dont ship it outside of the usa.
Is there a simple way to make varnish, or to buy varnish that is ready?

Thanks for the kind words
The edges do not look quite as clean in reality as in the pictures, but they will be cleaned up before varnishing.

[Dave Chandler]

I would think violin wood that has been sitting in the attic for 60 years would command a very good price, enough so to buy some additional tools, and more wood than you have now. Better yet, you may wish later you had saved it.
_________________
Dave in the Blue Ridge
Southern Violin Association

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm" Winston Churchill

"I took the road less travelled, and now I don't know where I am." Marco Polo

[dvsutton]

I was looking at the International Violin website and it looks like they ship out of the U.S. They ship fast and their oil varnish seems to have more color than another company i tried....i also got a varnish brush from them to make the process easier, no fun picking brush hairs out.
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on #13 now...

[OyvindT]

Thanks i will check out international violin.

I when it comes to the wood, perhaps it would bring in some money, but i promissed i would be making violins from it when i got it , so i would feel kinda bad selling it.
Perhaps i will save the set that i have not started on though, for when i have more skill.
I am very lucky when it comes to tools, i got alot of tools from my grandfather and great uncle before they died, my great uncle was also a violin maker, but i was only making guitars at that time and had no idea i would need the specialised violin tools like the purfling cutter and peg reamer later.

[Dave Chandler]

Good idea to save such nice old wood (especially if its as nice as the wood you used on this first project) for later projects, in my view. You're fortunate to have inherited tools, it seems a peg reamer, peg shaver, and purfling markers would be first items any maker would have on hand, it surprises me you didn't receive these. That said, its not hard to make the tools you need with common materials. Any device that can give you a clean and even line parallel to the outside edge can work as a purfling marker, even something home-made.

I use an exacto knife to cut the groove. Below is a photo of the tools I use including a purfling groove cleaner made from a 3/4" wide spade drill bit that I ground into the shape I needed (second photo is closeup)



_________________
Dave in the Blue Ridge
Southern Violin Association

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm" Winston Churchill

"I took the road less travelled, and now I don't know where I am." Marco Polo

[kubasa]

Nice job on the first fiddle. Turned out a lot better than my first! Sounds like you have some good advice for the next steps.

Dave - thanks for posting photos of your groove cleaner made out of the paddle bit. I think I might have to make one too!