Violin Forum/Message Board

[Qubus]

Hi,
I am a rather unusual new member of this site, being from the UK.

I made my first violin about 40 (sic) years ago and it is only within the last year that a friend finally varnished and strung it up for me. It didn't actually take 40 years to build the fiddle, I just went abroad for a year after having built it, but never got any further than leaving it in "the white " for 39 years. I am now planning to build a second fiddle, hopefully finishing it before 2055!

I have more or less decided to build it using the book "How to Build a Stradivarius" by J V Reid. This book has the advantage of providing what appears to be a good set of plans, but the explanations are a bit sparse. I have also looked at the book by Juliet Barker, which has lots of nice pictures, but no plans.

1) Has anybody any experience of building using the Reid book?
2) Is there a better book with plans included?
3) I have quite a lot of tools to get hold of, especially a caliper gauge. They seem to run at about £100. However, the Chinese ones are about half that price. Has anyone any experience of them?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Dave Chandler]

Welcome to the forum. regarding the calipers, since they are a fairly simple mechanical device, the cheaper made you may be able to do a reasonable job with them, but materials they are made with you have to keep an eye on rust etc, and also keeping an eye on the zero adjustments.

You might want to take a look at Michael Darnton's draft violin making book at http://www.darntonviolins.com/viola.php and as far as patterns go I'd start with a poster from Strad magazine. These would make good supplement to almost any book you decide to go with.

I started with Stroebel's book, but haven't looked at it in some time, but his book on "usefull measurements" is open on my bench almost all the time. Check out his site at http://www.henrystrobel.com/
_________________
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

[L P Reedy]

Haven't seen the Reid book, but one of my favorites is "Fiddlemaker's Worksheets" by William K. Robertson. It was given to me by a friend who bought it in England. The sticker says "Argus Books Ltd, £7.95 net, UK only." Published 1983. He studied under Juliet Barker and the book, while not perfect (none of them are) is easy to understand and follow.

He includes a half template for a sort of generic Strad pattern, along with a contour diagram for arching and neck/scroll templates. Everything else is rough drawings. Some dimensions are subject to slight variation and opinion, but in many ways it is the best book I have, including "The Art of Violin Making" by Johnson and Courtnall.

I doubt that it is still in print, but even if it isn't you might be able to find a copy. If not, you might find it in a library. Good luck.

Lyle

[kjb]

welcoms and have fun

[SooT]

Which part of England are you in? We moved to Devon from USA, have quite a number of books, if you are within spitting distance you are welcome to come and browse through our books to see what might be suitable for you.

Sue

[Michael Darnton]

The best violin making book currently in print is Johnson and Courtnall's Art of Violin Making. It's well worth hunting down a copy, and following it precisely!
_________________
new blog at my site! http://darntonviolins.com/blog
my work sites: http://darntonviolins.com and http://darntonhersh.com

[Qubus]

Thanks to everyone for responding to my query. I have replied individually to you.
best wishes
qubusl

[ctviolin]

[Franciscus]

Hello, Qubus, and welcome. You asked for caliper. Here is the one, not so expensive, I'd say: http://www.ebay.com/itm/141356913205?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT