Violin Forum/Message Board

[ChameleonMan]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum, lookign for some advice and criticism. I am a 14 year old high school student relatively new to violin making. This is my first violin I'm doing by myself. I ordered the wood online; spruce top, maple back sides and scroll. I have it it shaped, graduated and glued together, already with mistakes i can see. As you can see in the pictures, the left f-hole is about a millimeter higher than the right. It's not that huge, but enough to catch my eye. Also, the scroll gave me a bit of difficulty. One of the top humps is higher than the other. Other than that I think I've done a decent job so far in the process. I decided to go without inlaid purfling for my first one, and went with paint. So now for the future, I have to set the soundpost, varnish, glue the fingerboard, and then set it up.

One of my big obstacles I see is varnishing. I'm planning on going for gelatin powder for the ground coat. Any idea where I could get this locally? I then would add the coats of varnish and then a few coats of sealer. Also, when I varnish, should I do the back side of the neck? I've seen different violins with it varnished and with it not; is this just a matter of preference?

Setting the soundpost might also be a little difficult; any pointers for that?

Here's a few pictures of my violin:













Sorry for the quicly taken pictures. I also forgot to mention that I've spot glued the neck and gotten it to my liking, so those are the hideous marks on the neck.

Please let me know what you think!

[M.Lange]

Looks very good for a first one!

The outline is maybe a bit too straight towards the corners in the upper and lower bouts, making it look a bit square.
Don't worry about the left f-hole being slightly higher than the right. You will find things like that on many old violins. For example, on many strads the right f-hole is a little bit higher than the left.
What did you use to paint the purfling? It looks very good.
But the purfling isn't only there for aesthetical reasons, one purpose of the purfling is to stop/prevent cracks.

One important step in varnishing is getting a nice graound color through sun tanning, tea, etc. The next steps depend on the varnish you are using. If you buy ready-made varnish, follow the instructions of the manufacturer.

Matthias

[ChameleonMan]

Thank you.

I have been sun tanning it for a few days now. I understand what you mean by the straightness of the bouts. I ordered a stencil for the purfling online and used simple paint from the craft store. it holds up very well.

[jethro]

I wish I had started at your age ! I might be good at it now !

You will learn at least as much from errors as you will from the parts that seem to go right. And more than half the battle on the first is getting the feel of and controlling the tools ! You should try doing purfling ! It's not hard, but it does taks a steady hand, good eyesight and patience-- all of which you probably are better equiped with than us oldsters !

Don't worry so much about how it looks, think of it as a testbed for your
skills ! Each will be better than the last untill there are no more big erors
and you are worrying about unseen things more !

T

[ChameleonMan]

Thank you so much!

I am starting to think of it as my test run. Yes, now that i think of it there are so many benefits of doing purfling. This leads me to a question... would it be safe to inlay the purfling while assembled, or would I have to remove the top and bottom? I would think I would have to remove them, but maybe not. Let me know and thank you everyone!

[jethro]

Someone with more experience may correct be if I spew misguided facts...
I think I read that makers have done purfling at several different points
durring the making. before and after the channel. before and after
attaching the plates to body. I think it would be goo to mark the purfling
edges after the plate edges have been completely refined and beveled.
you don't want to do purfling and then later make an adjustment on the
outside edge of the plate.

I learned by taking plate scrap which was cut off the edges, cut it curved
like the plates and practiced using the cutting tools. that helped a lot.
I use the tool everywhere except right at the stings (pointy exacto )
Be carefull with the small triangle of wood on the inside of the sting.
The little triangular "island" gets very fragile at its point and can seperate
very easily. Wet it a little with some thinned glue to firm it up a little.
and only cut against the grain so as not to break it off. I have to do it
through 10 power goggle magnifiers (at the corners).
(old eyes...)

Tim

[Chris Knowlton]

I agree with Jethro. If you can do that level of work, especially at 14, you can do the purfling.

I believe that you have done a remarkable job on your first. Study as many pictures of scrolls that you can find before tackling your next project. Ask a local violin shop if they have a broken or otherwise unusable scroll that you can have to use as a guide. Scrolls are quite complex and subtle and it would help a lot to have one to roll around in your hands.

Keep up the great work,
Chris
_________________
I make sawdust mostly

[ChameleonMan]

Thank you for the information.

The only thing I would be worried about is the stability of the sides when I inlaid the purfling. It might be a good idea to do it on this one though...

And yes, I do need to study the scrolls more. I seem to have the general shape down, I just need to work on my symmetry. I will be ordering the supplies for varnishing soon, and might order some abalone and a purfling cutter and cleaner, too.

[M.Lange]

Regarding your scroll, you could change the chamfer a bit. It should be angled about 45°. It is very flat, as it is now.

Do you want to make the purfling from abalone?

Matthias

[ChameleonMan]

OK. Yes, I think I would choose abalone for the purfling, but I'm not quite sure. Is a different material a better idea?

[M.Lange]

Laminated black/white/black wood strips are used, traditionally.
maybe look at this thread: http://www.violins.ca/forums/viewtopic.php?t=733
You can either make your own, or buy laminated strips.

You could use abalone, but I think it would be much more difficult to fit. Also it may be less suitable for preventing cracks. And it is a bit unusual.

Matthias

[ChameleonMan]

Great, thank you. I was thinking about the laminate wood, but I didn't know if abalone might be better/stronger. I'll see if I can make my own laminate wood and if not I'll purchase some.

[FiddleDoug]

Very nice !!!! As someone who hasn't built a violin, I can only add a little here. You should be able to get the gelatin powder (unflavored) in your local supermarket/grocery. I'm not sure where you're located, but in the US, the brand name is KNOX. Don't varnish the back of the neck, just perhaps some very light stain, with French polish over it.
_________________
Doug Wall

www.wallindependent.com

[ChameleonMan]

Doug,

Thank you! I'll pick the gelatin up soon and that's exactly what I needed to know about the back of the neck. Now considering the first ground coat, this was my game plan:

Dissolve 30g of gelatin powder into a liter of warm water, then heat until clear and thin. Let it cool and then add one thin coat.

Any other ideas? I got this online somewhere, I forget at the moment. Let me know if I should alter something. Thanks!

[ChameleonMan]

I picked up the KNOX gelatin powder yesterday. Hopefully today I'll get to start the ground coat...