Woltz's Violin/Fiddle Build

[Woltz]

I'll get started properly on this once I've got the bulk of the woodwork out of the way on the Rick and Strat builds. But I thought I'd start the diary anyway. If there is interest in the process I'll aim to take plenty of photos to show everything step by step. It'll be a lot of work with hand tools rather than power tools.

Here's the main resource I'll be referring to and the plan for the building form. This plan is based on a Stradivarius but I also have a plan for a Guarneri.

[Simon Barden]

Interesting.

[blinddrew]

Oh my...

* gets popcorn *

[JohnH]

Looking forward to this immensely

[DarkMark]

Will be following with interest.

[jugglindan]

My hat's off to you. I shied away from building a simple wooden box!

[FrankenWashie]

Much Respect Woltz! My overarching ambition is to build an acoustic and an arch top in the distant future. The VERY distant future at the rate things are going.

[Woltz]

Cheers everyone. I'm still getting sorted with materials and some of the tools I need.

But I started on the templates for the form.

Left is a del Gesu 1734 form. Right is a modified Strad form. Haven't decided which I will use yet so I'm in the middle of doing the template for both.

[Woltz]

I've been doing more research and have added another plan for consideration. Here is the outline for the Strad Messiah



I have no real preference from a body shape perspective. Although I like the sound of Guarneri Violins. The main consideration for me is neck length given that I have large hands. Here is the comparison (Guarneri on left, Strad Messiah in middle, modified Strad from Ossman book on right):



I also stopped by Thor's Hammer and found a quarter sawn piece of Douglas Fir which I grabbed three sections out of. Here is one of the sections so you can see what they looked like.



Doesn't look too good but here are the boards I was able to get out of the other two pieces after I avoided the runout, most of the nail holes and most of the splits. The discolouration in the top right, couple nail holes and couple minor cracks left I should be able to work around when I rough cut the shape and then do the carve.



And here is a piece of queen ebony I got pretty cheap ($15) that I'll aim to use for the fingerboard.



I was hoping to use the Southern Silky Oak I have here for the back and sides but it isn't dry enough yet so I need to do some shopping for back, sides and neck timber.

[Woltz]

Decision made! Strad Messiah it is.

Here are the cleaned up templates.



And I've marked out the form on the plywood. Ready to cut out.



And I've been getting the tools I need. Finger planes, purfling marker, scrapers, dog leg chisel and I modified a heap of pegs to use as clamps for the linings. I've also grabbed a little slow cooker to use to heat my hide glue, I'll take a photo of the set up when I do the first lot of gluing.