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Viola Primerose: Graduating the top plate of the viola. Could I use CNC for this work? yes. Would it provide the quality of sound I’m pursuing? no. While working down to 5mm even thickness in the graduating I often think to myself, “this is tedious work.” Then as the graduation moves thinner than 5mm the wood starts to come alive. Each stroke of the finger plane starts to have a distinct tone, and as each area gets thinner the sounds change more rapidly. Holding the plate up to a light illuminates the thin and thinner portions. The plane blade glides through the wood or starts to turn up curls necessitating a change of direction. Graduating by hand lets you see, feel, and hear the wood. Getting to know that specific piece of spruce. Knowing and understanding the wood will lead me in drawing out the tone of the plate, and eventually the tone and character of the completed instrument. With CNC you just know the dimensions, not the soul of the sound
Instagram filter used: Normal Photo taken at: Howery Violins View in Instagram ⇒ Viola Primerose: Graduating the top plate of the viola. Could I use CNC for this work? yes. Would it provide the quality of sound I’m pursuing? no. …
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Violin Onalee: Removing the Top. I’ve played Onalee for a couple of hours with the varnish ground and a “heavy” bass bar. Onalee’s sound was recorded doing several scales, bridge taps etc. Now I’m removing her top and will trim the top portion of the sound bar. Put the top back on and make the sound test again. All in the pursuit of understanding which variables the tone and how
Instagram filter used: Normal Photo taken at: Howery Violins View in Instagram ⇒ Violin Onalee: Removing the Top. I’ve played Onalee for a couple of hours with the varnish ground and a “heavy” bass bar. Onalee’s sound was recorded doing …
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Carbon Fiber Bushings: A ¾ violin came in with a crack in the “A” peg hole. I’ve repaired several of these with splines and spiraled bushings. Getting a spiral bushing squarely into the ¾ size peg box is delicate to say the least. I’ve read Jerry Pasewicz’s article on this carbon fiber bushing technique and decided that I’d buy the special hole saw with the proceeds from this job. Only to realize that I could not find a source for such a tiny hole saw. The mandrill has to be inserted through the opposite peg hole and screwed into the hole saw. Standard hole saws use set screws and drill bits. Even if they were small enough they would not work with the drill bit guide. The guide portion of the mandrill has to be smooth to preserve the original peg tapper, if at all possible. So, not being able to purchase the tool, I thought, I’ll make one! This little video highlights the steps. Once the hole saw was done the actual repair process was quite simple and very strong! Now I’m ready for the next cracked peg box, unless it’s a cello with peg holes greater than 9mm… Then I’ll make a bigger version 🙂 What a fun job this is, never a dull moment
Instagram filter used: Normal Photo taken at: Howery Violins View in Instagram ⇒ Carbon Fiber Bushings: A ¾ violin came in with a crack in the “A” peg hole. I’ve repaired several of these with splines and spiraled bushings. Getting …