Considerations please for violin making manual.

[pavliku]

Hi guys,
I want to learn to make some violins - what are the best manuals to use, or conversely
what ones should I stay clear of. I would appriciate some guidance.
Thanks, Paul

[kiwigeo]

Ive got this one: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Violin-Making ... 0709058764

Although I havent yet made a violin Ive had a fairly good read of this book and like it, and many people recommend it.

[Mike Thomas]

I second Martin's recommendation. I have the Johnson Courtnall book, and it's widely regarded as the best available. Have a look at Michael Darnton's website. He is a U.S. maker who is working on a book at the moment, and if I remember correctly, a fair bit of his material is on his website. He has helped a large number of novice violin makers, and his advice, based on extensive experience, is very reliable. Also check out Maestronet forum. The Pegbox section is for makers, and there is a tremendous amount of information there.
The Strad magazine is also very useful, particularly its posters. It is one of the few sources of good quality full size photos and dimensioned drawings of Stradivari, Guarneri etc. instruments.

[J.F. Custom]

Martin beat me to it.

That's definitely the book I would suggest. It steps you right through the process in detail.

I believe it is based on the program at the Newark School of Violin Making in England.

Jeremy.

[pavliku]

Thanks Martin, Mike and Jeremy for the recomendation. I quite like the price too.
Thanks for the additional sources of information Mike
Cheers, Paul.

[matthew]

Maestronet is the place to hang.

[Dominic]

I have that one and one by Juliet Barker, Violin Making, a practical guide. Slightly different techniques and lots of picks of Juliet using knives and gouges so you can see how she holds them. Its good to see other techniques, jigs, cradles etc, as there will be ones that suit each of our working styles better.

I am about to start a violin, making molds etc now so I've been reading a lot. I think I'll practice a scroll first so I can work out what gouges I need. Juliets book is good for this because she names each one as she carves different parts of the scroll.

Good fun and very good violin wood is cheap compared with guitar sets.
Dom

[pavliku]

Thanks Mathew and Dom,
I did see Juliets book yesterday while looking at some book sites - I'll probably get a couple of manuals so I can compare methods.
How about the manual by Bruce Ossman, is that any good?

[J.F. Custom]

No. Leave the Bruce Ossman book.

Far too basic and lacking detail. Leaves a lot to guesswork and lacks pictures as well.

Jeremy.

[Dominic]

Came across this web site http://www.roger-hargrave.de/Seiten/eng ... iothek.htm It has lots of articles and examinations of particular violins, text that goes with The Strad mag posters, and also buildig methods of the masters, all stuff that Roger published over his life. Pretty cool. He does warn that some of his research has been superseded but there is tonnes of good info.
Cheers
Dom

[Dominic]

The hard thing is to find plans to make all the templates. The Ossman book has full size plans and arching templates for a strad model plus neck carving profiles etc. I don't think it is too expensive, less than $30?

Anyone found any decent pdf plans around anywhere?

Cheers
Dom

[Mike Thomas]

Dominic, most, if not all, of The Strad posters have enough information to make moulds and templates. Roy Courtnall sells a plan for what is probably a generic Stradivari, ( I think it is based on what is used for Newark students), but if you want to build an instrument based on an actual Stradivari, then The Strad posters are what most violin makers use.

The Roger Hargrave material is certainly very useful, particularly when you get to the subtleties of violin making. Incidentally, not that long ago he had to contact one of the big auction houses, I think Sothebys, to let them know that an authenticated Guarneri violin that was to be auctioned was in fact made by him. So he is good.

[P Bill]

The Ossman book is very basic but I did use it to build a 15 1/2 inch viola. I have a viola I used for patterns. It sounds much better than the one I copied, especialy the C string. Unfortunately it has some craftsmanship shortcomings and I had to make it into an "artifacto". Ossman does leave much to the imagination and I'm looking to upgrade.

[charangohabsburg]

[...] Incidentally, not that long ago he had to contact one of the big auction houses, I think Sothebys, to let them know that an authenticated Guarneri violin that was to be auctioned was in fact made by him. So he is good.

...but he probably still could improve on his etiquetting technique.

[pavliku]

Thanks Guys,
Have had a look around the Maestronet site - looks good.
Thanks Dom for the link to the Roger Hargrave site, I think I'll be downloading quite a bit from there.
The Ossman book is really cheap. I think I remember seeing a copy for $23nz with free shipping - it would be worth getting it at that price just for the full size plans.
Paul.

[charangohabsburg]

[...] the Roger Hargrave site, I think I'll be downloading quite a bit from there.

downthemall.net (a Firefox extension) is your friend.

[Dominic]

Found another cool site with a few plans and lots of cool info and links. Tap tunig using stuff using SA software, jigs etc.

http://www.platetuning.org/html/arching ... esses.html

Plans for a del Gesu (old Bull) http://www.platetuning.org/ole_bull_plans.pdf

Cheers
Dom

[kiwigeo]

Thanks Guys,
Have had a look around the Maestronet site - looks good.
Thanks Dom for the link to the Roger Hargrave site, I think I'll be downloading quite a bit from there.
The Ossman book is really cheap. I think I remember seeing a copy for $23nz with free shipping - it would be worth getting it at that price just for the full size plans.
Paul.

I've found if you start working from more than two books things start to get complicated. I built my lute using two books and at times wish Id stuck to one of the books. If you are using multiple books then sit down and lay out a concrete plan rather than flicking through the books and making decisions on alternative ways to do things on the fly as you build.

[Dominic]

Marty, lutes may be a bit different and building approaches perhaps vary more but the construction and assembly of a violin is pretty well resolved and we are talking here slight differences in various steps, mostly to do with the mold and the box assembly order, in what is a pretty straight forward series of steps. Far fewer than making a guitar, buts lots comes down to you hands not nifty jigs.
I have found better more practical mold designs than in Courtnall so its well worth looking around and reading as much as you can before you commit to building jigs and molds a particular way. And watch people actually carve a scroll, stills are ok but often posed and nothing beats seeing it done before your eyes.
Cheers
Dom

[pavliku]

Thanks for introducing me to your friend Markus
Wow, Dom you're doing all the work for me, cheers mate.
Martin your concerns are duly noted - I have learnt my lesson. I think.
Paul.

[P Bill]

Dom just carve a few to get a feel for it. Laying down an accurate ramp from the bottom of the pegbox to the apex is
the first and most important step. I only do 1 1/2 turns on the scroll because I like to go deep and get real separation.
That's not a tradition.

http://www.fiddlehangout.com/forum/ is not in the same class as Maestronet but still very helpful.

[P Bill]

I should say my ramp turns 1 1/8 , the outside line almost twice. I just passed an early scroll I use as a door latch and counted.

[Dominic]

Thanks Bill, I am pretty keen. But I am finishing an archtop at the moment so I am getting plenty of practice getting bigger curves right. But I've also got a couple of orders for classical guitars so there will be a bit more thinking before I can get into it. But good wood is cheap and pretty hard to pass up. So i think doing a scroll on some plain maple might be good practice before using the good stuff.
Thanks for the link
Dom