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Q: What are the minimum dimensions for spruce (billets, not wedges) needed to carve a violin top? I have a considerable pile of qs European spruce boards that are too narrow for guitars. I went ahead and bought them because the grain count goes 40-50 lines per inch (no fooling...all the way across). I thought I could at least use them to make 1st class brace wood, but your violin thread got me thinking... |
A: A violin doesn't take much wood -- the top is about 360mm (14 inches) long and in the center reaches an arch height of about 16 mm (5/8 of an inch) It's about 205mm (8 inches) wide, so a regular two piece top need only be half that width. The number of grain lines per inch doesn't tell you that much about the quality of the wood -- the fine grain looks good, but I have a log here of very fine grain red spruce (as fine grained as what you described) I tried it out on a violin as a customer requested -- but working it, I immediately didn't care for the feel of it -- it's density and texture seemed all wrong. the fiddle sounded pretty lifeless when it was finished -- the wood was just too dense and heavy. By a lucky coincidence, that was the only instrument that I ever had damaged in shipping -- the top got smashed in ..... I got a prompt insurance claim, replaced the top with another wood (different log, but also red spruce) and it sounded much better! I was happy in the end, and so was my customer. Your wood may be fine -- I just mean to say not to judge the wood by grain count. Try it out and see if it works.... |
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Q: Tell me, is the grain orientation of those blocks on quarter to the points for the side blocks ? I think this is what I am seeing. The end blocks are more clear to me and those look to be oriented to 90 degrees of the side blocks. Is this to make carving easier ? Or is there another reason ? |
A: Yes, the grain for the blocks is oriented to point out to the side, into the corners, whereas the end blocks point out toward the ends (you are actually looking down at the end grain). It does make for working them easier, and for the corner blocks it provides a little more support for the tip of the corner. Once it's all glued up, it probably doesn't make much difference -- it should be stable enough anyway, but you want to make it easy on yourself during construction. For that reason you also want to choose good straight grain for the blocks, and keep it all nicely lined up perpendicular to the rib surface. When it comes to splitting the blocks off the mold and trimming them up, you'll be glad for that. |
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Q: Very interesting thoughts on establishing the carved arch desired - Probably a dumb question, but sounds like you shape each one in direct response to the player's needs and wants, as opposed to some standard arc - Hence each of these is done by hand, sans profile? |
A: I do refer to some arching guides -- I have a number of sets of them that I have used over the course of things -- but I don't take any of them too literally. I might use them to quickly and roughly establish the basic lines, but then I will put them aside and use my personal judgment and feel for where I am going with this particular one. Maybe I'll try to build in a little more flexibility this time, or try for a harder and stiffer arch..... My approach is not to copy an objective model or existing instrument, but to explore and try to understand something of the variables that are available and to internalize my personal conception of the instrument. This is not to ignore the centuries old tradition and evolution of the great violin makers (most of my templates have been derived from the photos and drawings on the posters published by 'The Strad" magazine of the great classical violins) but, given the range of solutions historically proven to be successful, I don't feel it necessary to copy any one existing pattern. |
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Q: Via what method did you establish the flat ledge around the perimeter of the back plate? |
A: I establish the edge thickness with gouge and chisel, plane and scraper. Some makers will use a router (drill press) and that can work fine as well -- I just prefer the pace (and peace and quit) of the hand tools for this. |
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Q: One of your photos shows part of a workboard with a general violin shaped recess to hold the back in place as you carve. Are there other holding devices in use for this carving or will that recess hold well enough? |
A: The cradle you see there does the trick for both inside and outside carving. It's just a block of soft pine carved with a ledge around the outside of the fiddle's outline, and then roughly hollowed out in the middle to hold the shape of the arch while I'm carving the inside. |
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Q: Wow, I like those clamps! I guess the three threaded rods tighten from the bottom somehow? |
A: Those clamps just have one threaded rod through the middle -- the others are just guide rails -- you tighten them by twisting the handle. They are an old set of clamps that I got from the shop of a violin maker I knew around here who died some years ago. I also have a set of simple closing clamps that I also use that are just made from threaded rod with wooden blocks on either end -- but they are not as classy as these ones. |
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Q: I have seen things I did completely wrong, and SO many things I could have done much better than I did. I love the maple patch idea too. Seems it would make for easier and more accurate placement of the soundpost as well. I REALLY struggled with that part. Do you think that the maple contributes to more vibration against the spruce because it is denser, or do you think of it as more of a structural nicety? I had pretty much sworn off building another violin, but I have decided to try it again. |
A: Don't be too quick to write off your efforts as "wrong" -- I have plenty of my own idiosyncrasies. There are any number of ways of going about this business, and the diversity of approaches, methods and techniques keeps it interesting. Whatever works! As for the little soundpost patch, I think any acoustical effect is negligible -- I do it it more for structural and methodological reasons. |
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Q: I am interested to know how the neck blank is held while the scroll carving is in progress? Seems too fragile at the nut. Is the peg box hollow at this point or do you clean it out after the scroll ? |
A: Mostly, I just hold the neck in my hands to carve it..... sometimes I will use a little bench stop to butt up against if I'm worried about carving my fingers, or occasionally I put it in a vise to do the initial chopping out. I'll carve the scroll itself first, then hollow out the pegbox, then the fluting around the back and top of he scroll. The finishing touches -- the little chamfered edge around the turns -- will wait until just before varnishing..... it's my precaution against knocking little dents around he edges while I'm still working on it. And I suppose it can be a bit fragile, but sharp tools mean you can use a gentler touch. |
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Q: I'm curious if you have any predictions as to the overall sound/timbre of this violin when completed and "seasoned" a bit. I'm sure you have built a number of violins using various species of Spruce for the top/belly, and just wonder what your fingers and ears are telling you as you work this top. |
A: You were wondering about my predictions for its sound...... Well, I know this spruce is very nice -- crisp and bright and strong -- and those qualities should come out in the finished instrument. But one of the most difficult things is trying to describe in words the feeling of tucking the thing under your chin and abandoning yourself to the sound and feel of the instrument. The physicists will try to put it in numbers for objective understanding -- resonance peaks of a given bandwidth at such and such a frequency, etc .... but I strive for a voice that will tame wild beasts, make children laugh and play, cause women to weep and love and men to fight for a noble cause -- in other words, something like my last one, only better! |
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Q: I have a few questions on scroll and neck carving. The 1-2 mm drop in the scroll head... is that to protect the scroll in future if the fingerboard is replaced and the neck is scraped again? I noticed that there are 4 holes in the first picture but only 3 holes show in the next two pictures. Did you not drill the last hole completely through for a reason? And finally a question about attaching the fingerboard or fake fingerboard. Do you attach and align it to the neck block while it still has it rectangular sides and then trim the sides to follow the fingerboard or do you trim the sides of your neck block first then fit the fingerboard to it. What width measurements are you using for the fingerboard when you first set it in? How close are you to the final widths of the fingerboard? Do you use 24.5 mm, 32.5 mm, and 43 mm? |
A: The raised fingerboard surface you see is more for the roughing in than anything else -- it is good protection against banging up the edges while I'm carving the scroll and neck -- it also gives me a surface that I can use a vice or a clamp on if I want. That raised surface will mostly be planed away in the final fitting and leveling for the fingerboard..... but I do like to leave just a bit of a drop down to the scroll as a precaution, as you mention, in case the fingerboard needs to be replaced sometime down the road -- it gives a little room for resurfacing the neck. The three holes you see have no significance -- I only noticed afterward that the drill press didn't go down quite far enough to come though the other side for that hole -- I just poked it though with the end of a file. The "dummy" board doesn't get attached to the neck -- it's just a flat wedge (no curved surface like the real fingerboard) made to the right dimension that I can easily hold in place to check the projection as I fit the neck. Your fingerboard dimensions are about right -- that's just slightly oversize. I'll leave the neck full and rough carved until the board is in place, then shape them together as one. |
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Q: On a 5 string violin does it just "thin out" the scale? I don't know if that's the right way to say it. In my mind I can see where the scale would go "across" the fingerboard farther, before it goes "up" the board? Is that close at all? |
A: I think most 5 -strings (I have made a couple of them) have the extra string to extend the range of the violin downward. Normally, the violin is tuned in fifths -- GDAE (starting from the bass side), and usually the five string models add the C down below -- thus spanning the range of both the violin and viola. |
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Q: Did you use one of those inner caliper tools to measure for the soundpost, or do you trial fit and trim until you are satisfied? For such a simple concept, that post sure likes to spit itself around in there. Then fishing it out is a whole different experience. Practice is the only key I guess. Fine tuners on the tailpiece or no? Do you leave the bridge height high until it settles in? Setup is one of those things that I had a really hard time finding good information about. Could you post a profile picture of the whole setup including the tailpiece placement, string angle etc.? Sure like to see a break the way it's supposed to be done. |
A: You ask a couple of questions there ..... first -- as for the soundpost -- I don't use those little expanding soundpost calipers, though I'm sure some might find them helpful. I start by taking a rough measurement by putting the thin end of my vernier caliper down through the upper eye of the f-hole (I want to start a little oversize) then, I'll hold the post upright on the surface of the violin in the proper corresponding post position so I can see how the angle of the end fits to the surface -- the outer surface should reflect the inner one where the post will find its home. I do this for both ends of the post, belly and back -- then flip it around and try it out inside the fiddle (I use the setting tool that pokes a little hole in the side of post to hold it). I look in the end pin hole to check the alignment, fit, and placement and take the post in and out several times making little adjustments as it slowly come into place. As for tuners I generally set it up with one small fine tuner on the e-string, unless I'm requested by a customer for something different. The standard setup parameters would be these -- String angle : 158 degrees; height of bridge: 33mm (fingerboard projection 27); overstand of neck: 6mm; total height of saddle: 7mm. This is based on an arch height of about 16mm. Different models or different arching styles might change any of these figures, or you might just find that a particular fiddle seems to work best with a non standard set-up. I think of these numbers more as averages than as rules that must be obeyed. |
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Q: I just have some questions about the progress. Do you do an F-hole scoop? Why do some luthiers scoop the f-hole? any acoustical value to that? From the angle of the new violin I can see that you have carved a beautiful bridge but can you post a close up picture of your bridge? What is the weight of the white violin with fittings? |
A: The weight of this violin with no fittings is just a little under 400 grams. I haven't got the finished fittings yet for it, so I won't bother with that -- I just strung it up for trial run with some chopped off pegs and an old tailpiece, no chinrest. If you remind me when it's all finished, I can give you the finished weight with everything. I will scoop around the edges and the f-hole wings -- that's coming up next. The scooping of the f wing is more for the aesthetic, sculptural touch rather than acoustics .... because that outer wing is separated by the f-hole itself from the main vibrating centre under the bridge, I think it's acoustical effect is minimal. But in theory everything has some effect, and if you add up all the negligible, misunderstood and unnoticeable effects, you might find that they are rather significant after all. |
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Q: I see and read in your description of process where one could go too far, and so assume it's experience that guides you, as to when it is time to stop; but if you're able to speak to it a bit more, how do you know when you're getting close to that point? |
A: How do I know when to stop with the final outside graduations? Well, I suppose it's more guesswork than anything, but there are a few things to help get your bearings. First, I know what my rough edge thicknesses are and that I have a fair bit of extra material there. And I can hear that the response still seems a bit stiff -- that it still needs to be opened up a bit and let out. Part of the carving here is sculptural -- I know how the recurved channel should dip and flow, blending in with the main arch. And as I carve I can hear the sound subtly freeing up. I can use my eye to know if I'm getting too thin around the edge, and I can feel the resistance to a bit of thumb pressure. If I'm really feeling lost, I can always check the thickness with a magnetic caliper -- a 'Hacklinger guage" -- though I generally don't need to use it for this. I don't worry too much over the exact measurements at this point, or whether they'll be perfectly even (if you check the thicknesses of some of the great Cremonese instruments, you'll find that they can be quite irregular to no ill effect). I do want to be careful not to make the edges too thin which can be a temptation, especially if you think about the plates via the paradigm of a loud speaker -- stiff in the centre and free around the perimeter for maximum vibration. I think the danger can be in giving the individual plates too much freedom and autonomy, rather than having the instrument working together as a whole. I didn't always follow this procedure -- In my earlier work, I finished off the plates separately as I thought they should be (or according to given measurements) and then glued the instrument together and that was it..... But now that I have more experience, I've learned to trust my intuition more. It's like learning to play by ear and with improvisation -- It comes more from within, like art or music should -- and brings one closer to the mystery in it all. |
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Q: As far as you know, are you the only luthier using copal/amber to create a finish? How did you think of that! |
A: No, I didn't make this up. traditional oil/resin varnishes have a history going back centuries, possibly even back to ancient times. Many different resins -- both recent and old -- have been used, and with many different recipes for processing, adulterating, and applying. In the historical resources, it can be confusing as to the use of the word "amber" which in the past seems to have been applied to various resins, not necessarily of the fossilized type. Today, amber generally refers to the extremely old resins, such as the Baltic variety -- my "young" South American variety, at a million or two years old, is probably more properly called a "copal" resin. |
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Q: Where do you stand on the practice of sealing the inside of the instrument to protect against the absorbtion of moisture? And why? |
A: As far as sealing the inside of the fiddle -- no, I leave it just as is. I know there are some makers who do advocate sealing the inside, but unsealed instruments have been the rule for centuries, and there have been some pretty good ones at that. I don't think you can (or want to) completely isolate your instrument from its environment. I think it's better to just let the wood breathe and build with that in mind. I'm not sure what advantage is expected from the sealing -- that it won't react to the changes of the seasons? or that maybe it will withstand more abuse? Or is it an acoustical advantage? I don't think there's much evidence for any of these scenarios. And one disadvantage might be that it complicates repair work on the inside if you don't have fairly clean gluing surfaces. Basically, I think of it as fixing something that ain't broke. |
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Q: I love the range of color and texture you achieve as evidenced on your mandolins, guitars and violins! It must be the result of a large body of experimenting, experience and a keen eye. |
A: Yeah, there's nothing like like just doing it. Trial and error is my method, and I've certainly gotten used to the error part over the years. My varnish (as with the rest of my approach) is constantly changing as I learn.... and there is no end to that. Even now it is not uncommon for me to get halfway through a varnish job and decide that it's not what I was aiming at and so I'll strip it all off and start over again. Sometimes I think that the can of stripper is the varnisher's best friend! |
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Q: Last amber question, Otis, (I think...) - Once you prep it as you described, does it stay more or less liquid in a jar for a time? |
A: The amber can be kept in several ways..... Once it has been fused, or melted down, it will harden again into a brittle and glassy form which will keep forever, yet still be relatively easily dissolved into a varnish. Usually though, I cook it into a varnish with linseed oil as described, and in this stage it can be kept in a form like thick dark honey that just needs to be thinned with turpentine when ready to brush (you can even coax it onto the surface of the wood unthinned -- spreading it out thin with a stiff brush or with your fingers). But generally I thin it somewhat when I process it and keep it in a jar -- it will keep for years like that. Since I add no artificial driers it has much less tendency to set up in the jar than does most commercial varnish. But since it does dry or harden into a film by a process of oxidation and polymerization induced mainly by UV light, you can insure the longevity of the varnish by keeping it sealed in a dark container and with a minimum of air. |
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Q: Where does one acquire that stuff? |
A: Here's one place
Wood Finishing Enterrises
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