Violin Forum/Message Board

timbuck · Junior Member Joined: 29 Dec 2011 Posts: 5

Hi there everyone..And a Happy New Year Very Happy

... my name is Ken Timms..retired Toolmaker/engineer..for the last 4-5 years ive been hobby building ukulele's and banjo's etc: about 200 in total but never ever a violin..I am now considering having a go at a violin, but can't make my mind up on what size...i have a workshop and machinary plus hand tools and a load of seasoned timber , mostly Mahogany, Rosewood, and Ebony..As a sideline I have invented and designed several tools & jigs for my hobbies ..and one of my latest gadgets is a gauge for setting the string spacing on various sizes of 4 & 8 string instruments on nuts and bridges etc:..it works on all sizes from 1" nuts on mandolins and up to 4-5 inch on double bass bridges and takes away the need to calculate the pitch co's it do's that automaticly ..I would like a little feedback to find out if it could be useful on the violin family...here is a couple of pic's.

Muswell · Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2012 9:38 am Post subject:

I'm on my first violin after making guitars and am going up the learning curve. Your device is neat. I have always got by OK with the dividers, however, having spent my working life as a design engineer I understand the temptation to design jigs, tools etc. The purfling marker I have could definitely be improved ....

bata · Member Joined: 12 Jan 2011 Posts: 30 Location: Ontario

Hi Ken,
Welcome to Violin Forum.
Being from an engineering and machinist background myself, those are very nice pieces of machining. They can certainly be used when defining the spacing of string slots on the nut and bridge of any violin, viola and cello. For a 4/4 violin nut they would have to go down to 16.5mm out/out. Fractional sizes would be considerably smaller.
Regards...Tony

Mat Roop · Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2012 6:32 pm Post subject:

Hi Timbuck... Welcome & nice jig! Does it collapse to 5.5 mm spacing? Assuming there is virtually no play in the swivels... much better than what is out there and available commercially!.. Where can I buy one?
Cheers & good luck... hope we can help you with your ventures Wink

Mat

timbuck · Junior Member Joined: 29 Dec 2011 Posts: 5

timbuck · Junior Member Joined: 29 Dec 2011 Posts: 5

I put one of these gauges on E-bay in the Luthiers section to see if there is any intrest if so i'll make some more.......in the meantime i've started getting materials together for my first Violin..I hope to be making it from scratch...Are drawings available?.
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Mat Roop · Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 12:56 am Post subject:

Usec the Strad posters with dimensions and pics.
http://www.orpheusmusicshop.com/category-31.html
Cheers, Mat

timbuck · Junior Member Joined: 29 Dec 2011 Posts: 5

Further experiments with my string spacing gauge..have now progressed
and I have now designed a curved version that is more suited to the violin family..this version will go down to 1/2" nut width and cater for several fingerboard radius..the one in this photo is set for Cello at 62mm rad.

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Mat Roop · Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 8:46 pm Post subject:

Suggestion... In order to mark the nut, the points need to be on a slightly larger diameter radius than the nut or at least no less than the exact diameter, otherwise the middle ones won't reach to make a mark. With pointed markers it would be harder to see the mark as you don't want to press deep at all.
What if the ends of the marking pins were flat like a dull chisel, then the marking would be just a pressure line on the surface and it would be easier to place and hold on the nut. The set up of the curve of the end of the marker pins could be just a little greater that the actual curve and the entire device could then be "rocked" over the nut to create the pressure lines....
FWIW ... not being critical, just thinking with my mouth open Very Happy

Cheers, Mat

timbuck · Junior Member Joined: 29 Dec 2011 Posts: 5

Thanks Mat for the suggestions..it gives me something to think about...
I just use a sharp pencil to transfer the position of the points to the nut or bridge...it can be used to mark the pitch of the tailpiece as well.

I'm trying to find out what size radius is used on violins less than 4/4
Up to now i've got Cello at 62mm, 4/4 at 42mm
*Edit* I've just found this info it should tell me most of what I need.
http://www.alangoldblatt.com/specs/Violin.pdf
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Mat Roop · Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 1:25 am Post subject:

I would say a sharp pencil is not accurate enough... for me anyway. I currently use drafting dividers and scratch the mark lightly.. although I don't particularly care for the scratching part, but it is accurate.
Here is the "Bridge String Spacing Marker" used for bridges...except the impess lines are not parallel... but works well ... often wished there was a finer one for nuts.
http://violins.ca/tools/tools_luthier.html about halfway down the page.
Cheers, Mat