Workbench

Preparing a fiddola for varnishing June 2014   I like to perfect the fingerboard and nut before I begin varnishing. I temporarily glue on the fingerboard and plane it and then fit the nut. You can see in the photo below the wider

Northern Sunset Violin completed June 2014   [one_half] I completed the varnishing a few weeks ago and let the violin dry for two weeks in my UV cabinet. I then set the violin up with rosewood fittings and a Wittner tailpiece. I chose Obligato

Northern Sunset Violin: final set-up June 2014   The varnish has dried. I polished it and completed the set-up. I remove the fingerboard for varnishing, so below you can see the photo of my special fingerboard clamps for re-gluing the fingerboard. In the

Varnishing May 2014   Below are some photos of the varnishing process as the violin goes from white to fully varnished. The completed violin is not ready for photos yet- it's still drying.  The colour pallet is gold and red, and the idea

Crack clamps arrived! May 2014   I ordered some great crack clamps and spreader blocks from Tom Durrant in Ontario. They're similar to clamps built by Brian Hart in England. They are used to close cracks in the top and backs of violins.

Custom varnishing a Northern Sun violin May 2014   I'm working on preparing a custom violin for a young violinist. She selected her fittings and named her preference for the colour and shading of the varnish. M. would like a warm golden colour

Rehair madness! April 2014   I've had a big batch of rehairs to do lately. You can see that the coloured hair is quite popular. I dye the hair myself with bright hair dye (it works well on the horse hair).  Kids love

Nearing completion of my latest violin February 2014   My last post ended with a photo of the purfling glued into the channel. After trimming the purfling and finalizing the outside arching, I flipped the plate over and began thicknessing the inside. I

Back to the workbench January 2014   After completing my latest violin, I have begun work on the next. I'm using European maple and spruce and it reacts differently to the gouge than the local wood. It is also much lighter. Here are

Violin completed and set-up December 2013 [one_half] A few weeks ago I completed my latest violin. The varnishing went very well and the violin ended up a rich red brown. It is made from local wood. You can see in a previous post