Violin Forum/Message Board

J. Goldsmith Strings · Member Joined: 09 Oct 2013 Posts: 26

Ok, so the title says it all really. I'm 16, don't have much money and I want to start my first violin soon. What tools will I definitely need? Which can I make myself?

I've already got a few tools I've been handed down, and I've been offered a chest of violin making tools and wood to help me get started. I don't play violin (I'm a double bassist) but I've got one that I'm setting up so that I've got something to play on (I've set up a few violins before and had nice feedback on all of them). With that in mind, what tools would you say I need?

Joe

kjb · Super Member Joined: 06 Feb 2013 Posts: 385

what tools are you going to get with the chest and what do you have now?

J. Goldsmith Strings · Member Joined: 09 Oct 2013 Posts: 26

I don't know what's in the chest. I was offered it along with a violin from a violin shop free of charge! The guy said 'we've got some violin making tools here that were left by a lady along with some wood' so it could be anything!

I have a couple of gouges, some really bad water stones, a cheap scraper, various beveled chisels, a hand saw and a tenon saw, junior hacksaw, hand power drill and various bits, two squeeze clamps and two big C-clamps, a stanley smoothing plane and a soundpost setter. I also have some #315 (what does that mean?) hide glue.

That's about it. I don't have any finger planes or callipers, but I suppose I could make the callipers. Maybe the tool chest will contain some useful tools? It's a very generous offer all the same.

ctviolin · Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2013 9:50 am Post subject:

Chet Bishop · Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2013 10:45 am Post subject:

That chest of tools and the wood are a treasure, regardless of what it is. I feel sorry for the lady who gave up her dream and walked away, but grab that opportunity, get at least the Henry Strobel book "Violin Making, Step By Step" and get going on it.

By the time you are an adult you could make 4, 6, maybe ten violins, depending on your other time commitments, your energy level, and how badly you really want to do this. I did not start until I was 45, and have still only built about 25 instruments (24 and several on the bench as we speak). You could pass that by the time you are 25, and/or, enroll in the Newark school at 20, if you choose. You are still young enough to have some options.

In fact, that violin shop that offered you the tools and wood might be pretty friendly and helpful toward a young man who keeps bringing back a violin that is progressing well, and offering to help out with grunt-work at the shop, say...they may be a big help, in return.
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J. Goldsmith Strings · Member Joined: 09 Oct 2013 Posts: 26

I agree about the chest. It's very generous of both parties. I don't know what the reasons are for giving away the chest, but I'm incredibly grateful for it, even if it's just full of sawdust!

Joe

kjb · Super Member Joined: 06 Feb 2013 Posts: 385

there are articles about making a thickness gauge, you will need that they can be made for about $30 and your time.. some sort of finger plane will also be needed.

#315 is a strong glue, the higher the number the stronger it sets, would not use it for joining tops to body. I can't remember the number of the regular somewhere around #180 , someone could correct me on that.

FiddleDoug · Member Joined: 08 Sep 2007 Posts: 227 Location: Hilton, NY

The FIRST thing that you should buy is a copy of "The Art of Violin Making" by Courtnal & Johnson. That will give you lots of information on the tools that you'll need, and how to actually build an instrument. You'll need lots more clamps of various types and sizes. You can make spool clamps. You will need various measuring devices, including a thicknessing caliper( I made mine). Good water stones are a must, and sharpening technique is one of the first things to learn. You'll also need drills, peg reamer and shaper, good knives, glue pot, various scrapers, rib bending iron, and probably a few more things that I forgot. Likely $1000 or so, total.
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Chet Bishop · Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 9:11 am Post subject:

Joe;

I don't want to be contentious, nor will I, but I would like to point out that lutherie CAN be accomplished using relatively inexpensive hand tools, and the simpler, much cheaper, Henry Strobel books. I think I had the Strobel book (2, actually), a $75 dollar kit of carving tools, or so, and about $60 worth of materials, when I built my first viola. I know the materials totaled $60-- it was/is a pretty nice viola, too, though obviously made by a rank amateur. But it plays well, and the owner loves it.

I made my own spool clamps, finger planes, etc. and bought an ordinary clothes iron to use for bending ribs...$3 at a second-hand store, along with the $2 potpourri heater I bought for a glue-pot.

A simple thickness caliper can be made of inverted "S" shapes made of plywood, and pivoting at the center. They are completely accurate: inconvenient as can be, but they work.

Use your imagination. I think you have been given a great start, in the gift of those tools. The Strobel book is $30. Maybe you are only 16, but you can come up with the means to follow this dream, if you really want to-- and the "essential" tools will not break your bankroll. The desireable tools will beggar you for life, if you succumb to the temptation of getting every tool that seems attractive.
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Cliff Green · Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 10:11 am Post subject:

You've already received great advice in your two posts.
Ill side with Chet on this one. You will learn a lot about tools and their maintenance in making as many of your tools as possible and also begin to appreciate more convenient tooling when and if you acquire them. You could easily make your own bow saw for cutting the outlines. Your hand drill will (with some practice) cut your peg holes. I think many of us (at least I could) could eliminate 50% of the tools we have acquired over the years and not affect the final product.
You mentioned that you have Juliet Barker's book. She demonstrates using a lot of hand tools but her book doesn't explore the details as much as Courtnal and Johnson. Strobel's book Violin Building Step by Step is also very good, but relies much more on power tools, still valuable. Strobel's Useful Measurements book is very popular.
No one has mentioned the most important tool, a bench. You can make that too. Make it heavy and with the ability to be deconstructed. My bench probably weighs 200lb, was made almost completely with hand tools and has been moved into 5 different shops. You could compromise and build a smaller one (mine is 6 feet, 4 1/2 in thick maple top with two Record vices, 4x4 alder trestles and stringers). In the US there are small collapsible work tables by Black and Decker, Workmates, that are very handy for a young man on the move and would allow you to work on lighter projects almost anywhere.

Cliff Green · Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 10:20 am Post subject:

Chet,
How did you bend ribs with a clothes iron? Did you modify the plate or heat and bent over a separate form? I have to admit that I've never tried CT's cold bending.

J. Goldsmith Strings · Member Joined: 09 Oct 2013 Posts: 26

My workbench is an 8'x4 shed (more or less). I've got a glue pot, and I'm friends with a guitar luthier who could help me with the ribs (he's offered to help before). I've got a glue pot and also strobel's useful measurements book.

Come to think of it, I'll probably be fine with what I've got. I know what I need now due to this thread; I'll just figure out the tools when I need them.

Thanks a lot everyone,
Joe

Chet Bishop · Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 11:50 am Post subject:

Cliff;

I used the method taught by Albert Fischer, initially, and it worked fine for my first dozen or so instruments. (http://www.scavm.com/awfribs.htm)

I did build a large bending device when I made my double bass. and later acquired a "real" bending iron when I built my first cello. I use it exclusively, now. But I have bent them on a woodstove, and I know a guy who made his "bending iron" out of an old engine piston. Some have used elecric curling irons, or simple pieces of pipe, heated with a propane torch.

I made my own bowsaw, and still use the cheap little "eggbeater" drill I found in a fleamarket or somewhere.

I forged several larger gouges out of an old broken plow disc, and some smaller ones out of drill stock. I found a couple of old beat-up Stanley chisels in a second-hand store, and reground them to make gouges, too.

My point is, if one is willing to take the trouble, and use one's imagination, a great deal can be accomplished at very little cost. One does have to be motivated.
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J. Goldsmith Strings · Member Joined: 09 Oct 2013 Posts: 26

Chet Bishop · Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 1:15 pm Post subject:

Yes.

Also, consider clamping everything up dry, then loosen the clamps, one or two at a time, and slip the hot hide gue in with a pallette knife, and re-tighten the clamps. Saves stress. Easier in the long run.

But warming the two surface with a hair-dryer or heat gun before attempting to join them helps a great deal.
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