Building a Violin From Scratch Using Hand Tools

This violin is a replica of the 1716 "Messiah" Stradivarius and was crafted using the same traditional methods used at that time. The statement I heard throughout this entire project is "There was a much easier way to do that you know. CNC the plates, scroll and glue it together". The people asking these questions don't see the point. The ability to carve something like this by hand is a skill that is rapidly being lost especially in my generation. If you have the correct electrical tools you could use some but take hand held grinders and complex tools out of the shop, hide them and forget where they are. You won't be needing these tools. If you simply trust your hands and eyes more than your fancy tools the experience will become even better. Unplug your electric tools, build a good solid bench, and gather your hand-tools. You need only one thing to do this: DESIRE.

Materials (Will talk more about these in the next step):

1. Top (Spruce) - 400mm x 120mm x 42mm tapering to 24mm (look at picture)
2. Back (Maple) - 400mm x 120mm x 42mm tapering to 24mm
3. Ribs (Maple) 1.2mm x 32mm x 1080mm (1080 total mm - pieces split 180mm x 2, 140mm x 2, 440mm x 1)
4. Scroll (Maple) 300mm x 80mm x 50mm
5. Blocks (Spruce, all 32mm tall) - 60mm x 22mm x 1, 48mm x 20mm x 1, 20mm x 30mm x 4
6. Bass Bar (Spruce) - 280mm x 5.5mm x 14mm
7. Linings (Spruce, all 3mm x 5mm) - 140mm x 4, 110mm x 4, 180mm x 4
8. Fingerboard (Ebony) - 275mm x 45mm x 12mm
9. Nut + Saddle (Ebony) - 12mm x 8mm x 64mm (Together)
10. Purfling (Ebony + Maple) - 246mm x 1.3mm

Tools:

1. A nice set of wood gouges - I bought mine on Facebook marketplace and were actually made in 1825. Pfeil and Narex gouges are also very nice from my experience but are significantly more expensive. We will talk about gouge specifics later. Quality over quantity here I completed this project with 4 gouges.
2. A few normal chisels - Mine are also from the 1800s. You only need a 1 inch and 1/8 inch but more is better.
3. Violin tool set - I really like this one. After sharpening the planes and scrapers it all worked really well.
4. Bending iron - I had one like this. Worked really well and did not light my house on fire so a success in my book.
5. Lots and lots of x-acto knives - I bought these blades and they seem to stary sharper than the normal ones. It is amazing how useful a sharp x-acto knife is for this project.
6. Files and rasps - My files are mostly older with my set being made in West Germany (so before 1998). I highly suggest buying a one decent rasp and two bigger files and then a bunch of needle files. I really liked these along with my antique set. I have used these rasps before they are ok.
7. Luthier caliper/normal dial caliper - This cheap luthier caliper was ok. It was not accurate but gave a decent idea of the thickness. This caliper is one of the best tools I have every purchased. I have used the same one for 8 years with no issue.
8. Japanese pull saw - A smaller one will be useful just make sure it is sharp.
9. Coping saw - I used a super old coping saw and realistically anything works the spruce is very easy to cut with the grain. You should probably get the correct thing though...
10. A way to sharpen gouges - This part is arguably more important than the gouges themselves. I sharpened mine once on a big lathe tool sharpener and then only used this leather strop.
11. A large hand plane - Mine is a antique no.5 and is only needed to joint the front.
12. A manual drill (powered by you!) - You will need to drill a few holes for the pegs and f-holes
13. A ton of cloths pins - Clamping linings
14. Materials to make clamps - Discuss in later section
15. Many miscellaneous things you probably have lying around (including lots of band aids :\)

The species of wood is not really up for debate like it is when making a guitar. Pretty much every violin is made from spruce and maple. The combo of the specific gravities of these two types of wood is what gives the violin its distinct sound. Here is what to look for.

Top (spruce) - The spruce is the main thing to look at during this process. The most important part is the spruce has quarter sawn straight grain. The next thing you are looking for is the spruce to have a tight grain. Both of these will effect the amount of resonance and tone the top has. The top of a violin is always book matched! The type of spruce used is generally European or Engelman spruce. My top is very tight grain in the middle and slower becomes less tight by the outsides.

Back (maple) - You are looking for a piece of softer European maple. Harder maple has a higher weight and density changing the sound the weight of the completed instrument. Pick a piece with figure but be be careful. Figure and crazy grain can make the piece harder to carve. I accidently picked a piece of hard American maple which was very hard to carve. Violins in the 1800s have been made with it but its difficult to work with and a heavier. There was a burl forming that was so hard my gouges almost could not touch it. The majority of violins use flame maple but have been done with all types of figure. The back can either be two pieces book matched or one piece. Same rules for wood selection go for the scroll and ribs.

Braces / Blocks (spruce or willow) - Much like the top the braces and blocks need to be quarter sawn straight grain for the best sound. Stradivarius originally used willow for his blocks but this is quiet hard to find so I used spruce.

The rest of the elements are Gabon ebony. This is the area where you could make your violin interesting. Originally I was going to use bog oak for all of these elements but after carving the fingerboard it turned green so... back to ebony. Many will also use rosewood for these portions.

For this step you will need to start by cutting the inside form that is the inner dimension of the sides with hole cut outs for the blocks out of 3/8 inch plywood. You will also need the inner template with the corners. Linked here is a CAD document I made with all of the templates you may for this project. I printed out the drawings full scale and used them as templates to cut the pieces out of wood.

The first thing of note with the blocks is grain orientation. The grain needs to be at about a 53 degree to the horizontal (or roughly facing into the corner). This will make the best acoustics and will mitigate damage due to seasonal expansion and contraction. Cut out all the blocks with the end grain facing up. As a reminder the oversized sizes are: (All 32mm tall except the bottom block which is 30mm) - 60mm x 22mm x 1, 48mm x 20mm x 1, 20mm x 30mm x 4

Before gluing in the blocks there is some setup to be done. Hold your blocks in position and using your inner template with corners ensure the blocks are big enough to totally fill the corner. The back of the violin is not parallel to the front. To achieve this leave the top block at 32mm tall and make the bottom block 30mm tall. Once glued together we will achieve the angle.

Cut a few 8mm thick bars to use as spacers to hold the violin template off the ground. When gluing the blocks on this will give you the proper offset of the blocks inside the template. Glue on the blocks using a small amount of hide glue or CA glue. If you use to much it will be difficult to get the template out later. Let dry.

To shape your blocks place your inner template with corners on top and trace the shape onto the blocks. Place the violin flat on the table and start using a gouge to split the end grain until you get close to the line. You can use a square to check if you are straight by comparing the top of the block and the side you are cutting. Once you get close on all the blocks use files to get the blocks to fit perfectly. You don't want any jumps from the curves of the template to the blocks so try to blend these areas.

Linings are used to increase the surface area which the top and back attach along with providing additional strength for the ribs. For the lining start by cutting enough 2mm x 5mm spruce to make these lengths: 140mm x 4, 110mm x 4, 180mm x 4. Cut some extra it is likely you are going to break a few when bending. These linings need to have a taper cut along their length. This is partially to decrease weight and partially to help with sound. I simply used a small flat finger plane leaving the one side at 3mm and making the other about 0.5mm.

All the ribs start at 32mm tall with the lengths being split as such: 140mm x 2, 360mm x 1, 440mm x 1. My violin uses one continuous rib on both the top and bottom. Many split these into two pieces for ease of bending but it creates a seam on the bottom. My wood for the ribs came from a set of guitar sides that were already only 1/4 inch thick. I cut my ribs with additional width using a pull saw and used a plane to get them to thickness. The goal is to get the entire rib to a consistent 1.2mm.

Now that you have your linings and ribs cut out it is time to bend them!

A quick note before this section. Anything left overnight after being steam will suffer from spring back. The material can move over 30% back toward its original position. I bent both my ribs and linings over the course of two days to compensate for this.

Before your ribs it is wise to practice on some scrap, unfigured maple. It is very likely the ribs will crack as you learn. The linings are certainly harder to bend than the ribs due to their thickness so I started with the ribs.

Heat up your bending iron to 132 degrees Celsius. This is obviously very hot. Water very quickly turns to steam when it is placed on the top. In preparation for this step I left my nails long which turned out to be amazing help. My fingernails would touch the bending iron instead of my fingertips leading to no accidental burns. Place your ribs and linings in a vat of water and leave for a few minutes. Steam bending of wood works on the principle that the steam breaks down the lignum inside allowing it to bend. Once there is no more steam the lignum reconnects. If you are bending the wood and there is no steam it will break. As you bend the pieces the wood must continually stay wet.

Looking at the bending iron there are a variety of different radius. Start all your bends using the largest radius to get the general shape. Once you do this a smaller radius can be used to dial in the size. Switch up what ribs you are working on and continually reference the template until the ribs fit perfectly. The ribs can bend and forth but it is preferable that you don't. The ribs can become wavy from from doing this. whenever I needed to bend back I would use the side with a large radius and move along the curve as I bent. Don't worry about the corners just leave them long for now. We will cut them later. Ensure you don't twist the ribs and linings when you bend them. This will cause a myriad of problems later. Bend the linings in much the same as the ribs. Keep in mind they are far thicker and will take much longer to bend. Leave them long for now as we will notch them inside the blocks before gluing. After wetting the linings are fairly ductile. Try not to rely on this ductileness and actually get them to fit. Leave overnight to allow for spring back and bend the ribs again getting a perfect fit.

You should now have a set of bent ribs and linings!

Before gluing on the ribs it is smart to create some curved cauls to ensure good adhesion to the blocks. I made mine out of some old house trim I found. I made holes in my template to be able to clamp to. You will start by gluing on the the c bout ribs leaving them long past the corners of the blocks. You should also leave the ribs extra tall so it is above and below the blocks to be trimmed later.

The main goal of this glue up is to have the seam for the ribs to be right in the center of each point on the violin. To achieve this start by cutting the c ribs you glued on close to final length. Be careful to not crack or chip your ribs. Since you are cutting cross grain your knife is not going to make as clean of a cut. Once you remove a majority of the material start using files and sandpaper to get to exact dimension. By the time you are done you should be filing both the corner of the block and rib simultaneously. They should flow as if they are one piece of wood. Next you can glue on both the top and bottom ribs. Ensure good clamping pressure on the corner so the joint disappears. Once this is complete trim and file the corners to fit perfectly. Note that the ribs are very thin and be careful not to sand through them. Any gaps in the corners can be filled with wood glue and sanded over.

Once the ribs are glued on they need to be made the correct height. I started by using a finger plane to get close but as I got to final dimensions I switched to a board with sandpaper on it due to the fear of chipping the ribs. Note from before that one block was 2mm shorter than the rest. Sand the ribs and blocks until you end up with both faces being flat (but obviously not parallel). Use chalk to track your progress. Be careful where you apply pressure or the sides will not be flat.

At this point you should have the blocks and ribs glued and trimmed on your form!

The c bout lining need to be "notched" into the corner block. This means cutting a small channel into the block that the lining fits tightly into. To do this you will use an x-acto knife and the purfling picker from the violin kit. Start by marking a line 3mm from the edge of the ribs. The notch needs to be a tiny bit less than the height of the lining (5mm) and about 2mm deep into the block. Take your knife and sink it into the spruce. If you are having trouble you can add soap to the knife to make it cut easier. It should not take a lot of pressure to cut deep with the knife. Once you make this cut use the purfling tool to scoop out the excess material. Continue taking small amounts off the side until the lining fits perfectly. Do this for all eight locations (Don't forget the back!). Then it is time to cut the linings to exact fit. When you get to his stage it can be helpful to label each lining to avoid confusion. Using your xacto knife start nipping off tiny pieces of the corner block until the lining fit is perfect. Be sure to cut square.

It is now time to glue in the linings. For this step we are doing to do one side at a time. Our clamping method is going to be cloths pins. They are economical and more importantly light enough to not hurt the delicate violin. Since my linings fit well I don't need to the cloths pins to push the wood into position. All I really need is to have it a apply a tiny bit of clamping pressure for the glue. If your linings don't fit well you should make them fit well or add rubber bands to your cloths pins so they make more pressure.

Add glue to the linings and glue them in. Don't add an excessive amount and wipe off the excess. Glue the linings so they are a tiny bit above the edge of the ribs. Once this is done use a plane and board with sandpaper to bring the linings to the height of the ribs.

You should now be finished your ribs! For the protection I left them in the mold for now.

For the next few steps I am going to talk about the top and bottom plates. Since they are somewhat similar I am only going to mention a specific one by name when something is distinctly different.

The top of your violin needs to be a book match piece of spruce. The back can be a either a book matched piece of maple or a single piece like mine. For the book match cut the piece of wood in half across the large face and mark the inner faces where the saw was just touching. This will be the top face of your violin. Reference the picture above for sizing of the top as it is confusing to describe due to the shape. Using a plane flatten the mating faces to prepare for the glue up. Attempt to remove the same amount from each mating face to keep the book match remains symmetric on each side. Try to keep the mating face at a 90 degree angle to the back face. You can track your progress here with a square and chalk.

Glue the two mating faces together. If your joint is really good placing one in a vise with the mating face horizontal to the floor the other can simply be places on top with no clamps. If the joint is subpar fix it or use clamps. It can be difficult to use clamps due if your top already has the thin edge. I used PVA glue for this glue up. I am figured I was never going to reverse this glue up and would only lead to problems later using hide glue.

Two quick side notes:

1. Save a piece of the wood used in the top for your base bar. Using a piece from the same piece of wood as the top can help with resonance. It should be 267mm x 15mm x 5mm.
2. Ignore the type of wood in the picture. I forgot to take a picture of my spruce top. I made a sinker redwood one for my wall... Pretend the seam is in the center and it is the same.

Next cut out the rough shape of the plates. I started by using the outside template to trace the size of the violin on it. I then used a band saw to roughly cut out the plates. A bow saw could be used but I don't have one and looks laborious. Note that the area inside the c bout is difficult to cut out. The goal of using the band saw is simply to get it close. Files to get the exact size once the plates are thinner around the edge. This will make them easier to file because there is less material. When cutting out the back don't forget to leave the button where the scroll attaches at the top. On the front there is a major difference in cut speed when cutting with the grain vs against the grain. Just go slow and it will be fine.

Now for the fun to really begin. From this point on this project step for the carving will take you about 10-40 hours worth of your time. It is tedious but worth it I guess.

I have never seen anyone online start carving the plates the way I did. I believe my way to be superior as it allows the bulk of the material to be removed without any guesswork regarding the depth. To start make a set of curvature templates. Both plates have different cross sections so you should have two sets with 5 templates each. I simply laser cut my templates but they could be made very easily using a paper template transferred to acrylic or wood. Linked here are CAD files I created for all the templates used in this project. The cross sections and position of the templates can both be found there. For each of the templates mark 4 or 5 lines on half. One near the edge, another in the middle, and the rest where there are drastic change in height. Note that the curvature templates simply represent the cross section of the plates. On the violin plates themselves mark where that particular cross section temples goes (top to bottom) and label with a number on the centerline of the plate. Then using the template representing the cross section in that spot line up the center on the template and the violin plate. Transfer the marks from the template onto the violin top. Flip your template around the mark both sides of the center line. These marks are your drill locations. I used an automatic center punch to create an indent on these locations to help prevent any errors during the following steps.

Place a 1/4 twist drill bit in a drill press and hold a curvature template under the bit standing up. Align the point of the drill bit with a mark on the template. Pull the drill press down and set the quill stop to 0.5mm above the template. Remove the template and place the appropriate violin plate in position. Drill a hole to the depth of the quill in the appropriate location. Remember the violin is symmetrical about its central axis so two holes should be drilled for every setup of the drill. Repeat this progress for both plates of the violin. Be careful and make sure the plates don't lift from the table. When drilling the holes near the center around the c bouts be extra careful. This area is skinny and has a significant amount of vertical change. Slipping up here could mean removing material that needs to stay.

At this point you have holes in your top and back denoting the depth which they need to be carved to.

Now for the part you have been waiting for! Lets do some carving.

A few things of note before you begin

1. Patience is the name of the game. Time is irrelevant there is no rushing this.
2. Sharpen your gouges. Future you will thank you. I only sharpened once and then just used a leather strop throughout the process (obviously that does not count as sharpening right?)
3. The spruce is really soft. Be careful to not dent it.
4. Don't get to close with the gouges. You are going to come back with planes anyway.
5. Clamp you workpiece well. I used a two small clamps which I moved around depending on where I was carving.
6. I primarily used 3 gouges for this. All had somewhat high sweep. I had a 2 inch which was fun but not necessary. My primary gouge was a 1.25 inch which was a great size. I also had a small 1/2 inch for details.
7. If When you cut yourself don't bleed on the wood but especially the spruce. It stains really bad.
8. Have fun!

Next we need to address the major differences in the types of wood between the top and the back for carving:

Top

1. Spruce is a softwood which you think would make this kind of stuff easier but it has some issues.
2. For removing large chunks of material you can go with the grain when you are far away from final dimensions. Large chunks can crack off when working with the grain. You can get close if you are carful and your gouges are really sharp. Never use a mallet.
3. When getting closer to dimension spruce should only be worked across the grain. This will prevent large pieces tearing out but will make little fuzzy things on the spruce.
4. To reiterate spruce dents really easily. Be careful
5. Never for any reason use a plane going uphill. It will tear out really bad immediately. Find creative ways to go downhill
6. If a plane gets stuck stop and figure out why. Forcing will result in tear out. The planes can take out big chunks if setup incorrectly
7. I roughly carved my top in about 3 hours. Big different compared to the back. This is what I would start with.

Back

1. The back is hard maple which is a somewhat hard wood. The amount of figure and wacky grain orientation will greatly effect the difficulty to carve. I should not have used the back I picked. It was very very hard to carve.
2. You can carve with and against the grain the entire time. You can use a mallet if you choose.
3. Use the strop on your gouges regularly. This maple will dull your tools quick.
4. Planes work well with the grain but not so well against the grain.
5. The back probably took me about 30 hours to roughly carve. It sucked. The grain was so weird making the maple so hard I had to beat my chisel though with a hammer to take the lightest of cuts.

So carving. Start by removing the bulk of your material getting close the depth of the holes you drilled earlier. Blend the material between each row of holes by eye. Follow the rules above for each piece of wood. Your goal right now is not to get the plates perfect but just to remove material. Periodically check with the long template going through the line of symmetry to ensure that is also getting to dimension. Once you get to the point that the only thing remaining from the holes is the point of the bit switch to the planes. Follow the rules above to get your pieces close but not perfectly to dimension. In the next step we will make it perfect.

Before proceeding use files to get both your plates up to the line you originally drew for their size. Now that they are thing it is easier to carve. They should be pretty much the same so it might be smart to hold them up to each other during this process. Using the complete ribs will also be instrumental in getting a uniform for of the plates once they are glued on the ribs. The outline should be put at essentially final dimension as we will use the edges as reference to add features.

This step was very difficult for me. I can't really explain why but I had a very hard time with this. The goal of this step is to use a drawing of a set of contour lines to make your violin the perfect shape and symmetrical. A contour line in this case is a 2d line that is created when a plane is created at x distance up a 3d object. For example you have a cone. Lets say at 3cm from the bottom of the cone your radius is 4cm. The contour line is simply the circle with a radius of 4cm at that height. At a higher height the cone is smaller in diameter so the contour line is some circle smaller than 4cm. The violin is this concept but a much more complicated curve. The key is to realize the line created is static in height.

To start this I made a jig to hold a pencil at a fixed height from the table. The pencil does need to be able to adjust in height for each contour line. I made my jig simply from a piece of plywood with a hole drilled to hold the pencil. Wrapping the pencil in tape you can make the fit tighter. Try to not drill the hole to far on the arm to prevent deflection. I then clamped my jig to the flattest table I had, my granite kitchen counter (do this when no one is home. They will never understand). After setting the pencil height I pushed the plate into the pencil spinning it as I go. This created the contour line around the violin. This does an amazing job showing bumps and high points as the increase in height on the plate pushes the pencil out making a kink in the line even in the most minute instances. When there is a kink use planes and scrapers to take it down and remove the defect. When the line looks symmetrical across the line of symmetry on the violin and matches the contour in the picture move the pencil up a tiny bit and do it again. Repeat this process until there are at least 6 contour lines that are all perfect on both plates.

The place where I struggled here is I had a hard time keep the violin on track and tended to push to hard into the pencil leading to inaccurate results. This was incredibly frustrating and made the entire process feel useless until I got used to it. It helped to not look at what I was doing and simply do it by feel. At this point there are no dents or any weird bumps in either plate. This needs to happen now because the tool used to make the purfling channel indexes off the plates.

The purpose of the purfling, other than aesthetics, is to prevent cracking across the entire top. If the crack begins to form at the edge from a drop the purfling will prevent it from cracking the entire top of the violin.

To inlay the purfling there are 3 basic steps:

1. Using the marking tool mark the two lines on both the top and the back.
2. Using a xacto knife deepen the lines you just marked
3. Using the pick remove the material to the depth you just cut
4. Repeat

Some notes about the spruce:

1. The spruce is stringy and weak. If you try to pull out slightly more than the depth you cut with the xacto knife it will tear.
2. Where the grain lines are in the spruce is get significantly harder. This will push your knife up and not make a cut. Then once you try to pick it out it will tear. Go through sections with dense grain lines twice to ensure it is cut completely.
3. On the vertical points where there are no lines the spruce will want to tear because it is weak. The wood is so soft the knife does not want to stay in the line you cut.
4. The conclusion here is the spruce is temperamental to say the least. Have super glue on hand to put pieces back in.
5. It probably took me 15 hours to make the inlay channel in the back. This was good time compared to the 50 hours it took me to do the front. The maple is significantly easier to inlay compared to the spruce because it does not do the stuff I listed above.

So lets talk about how to complete those 3 steps above. Complete these steps on the test piece to ensure everything is working correctly

Marking - The marking tool is a brass rod with knives. See the picture above. The idea is to hold the brass rod parallel to the thin sides and run it along the entire edge scoring a line showing where the purfling will go. Start by setting the distance between the knives to match your purfling my testing it on a scrap piece.

1. When you approach the corners slow down and do the corners by hand. If the corners are not perfect the purfling will line up weirdly.
2. Make sure your plates are to final size at this point. The marking tool indexes off the outside so if your edge is not perfect at this point it will look weird in the end.
3. Be careful to hold you tool straight. If not your purfling will be a different distance from the outside throughout.
4. When you get up to the button on the back mark the line by eye.
5. I ended up marking my two lines a tiny tiny bit small. I then went through the entire thing with a file to make it the perfect size. It did not take to long and made the result better.

Scoring - Scoring the outside should be done with a sharp xacto knife. The goal is to score deep enough so material can be removed with the pick.

1. You can't score the entire depth at once. You need to do it in stages.
2. As stated above the spruce sucks. Start with the maple and be really careful when you get to the spruce. Go slow you don't want gaps in the edge of the channel that the purfling will not fill.
3. The first cut after using the marking tools should be shallow. This will help to prevent slipping as you go to make deeper cuts.
4. Differencing densities and grain orientation will effect the knifes ability to cut.
5. The grain of the wood can drag the knife from the path you are intending to go. Watch closely to ensure you stay on the line.
6. Due to the tight turns near the corners it can be very easy to mark additional material here.

Picking - This is the final step where you pick the remaining material out from the section you scored.

1. Especially on the spruce if the score was not deep enough it will simply tear out the material by the edge.
2. Place your thumb in the curved recess on the tool and pull it up slowly with your other hand. The material should come out easily.
3. It can sometimes be helpful to flip the tool over and pull it through the channel to remove small pieces.
4. Be careful to not remove to much material on the corners. This is very noticeable in the final product.
5. If material does tear out it is ok. If it is a large chunk use medium or think super glue to reattach it. If it is really small the varnish and sanding dust will fill it.

At this point you should have a full channel going around the entire outside of both your plates! Now it is time to insert and trim the purfling.

Now it is time to insert the purfling into the channel you just created! I ended up using my own method rather than a traditional violin method.

I started with my bottom pieces of purfling. I did this because if I broke the pieces (which I did) the remaining elements could be used for either the top or the c bouts. It is handy to have a small piece of purfling to check your channel in areas where the purfling does not seat down all the way. Cloths pins, normal clamps, or the specialized clamps we will use for gluing the plates to the sides will be useful for this glue up.

To complete the bottom and top purfling elements:

1. Start by cutting off a piece that is about 30mm longer than needed. The lengths of the purfling are the same as the ribs.
2. Fit piece of the purfling to the channel. Some of the purfling is more flexible than others. Mine is comprised of actual ebony making it very brittle. I used water and my bending iron to bend it to shape.
3. Put a piece in the channel the best you can allowing it to go over the end of the channel in the corners. Cloths pins will help you keep the purfling pushed all the way down in the channel. The specialized clamps for gluing the plates later can be useful for this step as they can apply more pressure than the clothespins. If you don't want to make them now clothespins will work.
4. It is likely the purfling won't really fit and be sticking up in some parts. Go back and remove more material until the height of the purfling sticking up is somewhat uniform. Having a small test piece of purfling can help to find where the high spot is.
5. Using your xacto knife cut the purfling aligning your knife with the corner on the inside of the purfling channel and the center of point on the plate. If you did everything correct this should give you the correct angle.
6. Cut most of the way through your piece on the violin. Remove to finish the cut to prevent damage to your plate.
7. Place purfling back in channel. Cut guess the angle on the other piece and leave it long for now.

To complete the c bouts:

1. Bend to rough shape. Curves here are very tight be careful not to break the purfling.
2. Cut a piece roughly 30mm longer than required. On a scrap piece of wood cut an angle into the purfling you believe will match the angle of the piece already in the channel. Try to cut square.
3. Place purfling in the channel with the angle you just cut touching the other piece of purfling and the other end overhanging the end of the channel. If the angle is incorrect fix it.
4. Using a knife cut the angle that appears to be correct onto the other end of the purfling but not to final length.
5. Check the angle to the other piece of purfling in the violin plate. If it is correct go ahead and slowly take pieces off the c bout purfling keeping the same angle until you get to length. If not try again to make the angle perfect. On the side that is long remove material from both pieces of purfling so the fit is tight.
6. Complete again for the other side

Gluing in the purfling

This is the part I did differently from other builders. Your purfling should at this point fit perfectly in all your channels and the corners should align. Add cloths pins to ensure the purfling is pushed down all the way and the corners are pushed down fully. Also make sure the miters on the corners align. It can help to take down the height of the purfling on the corners before gluing it as this will make sure the angle you see if actually the angle at the height of the plate. Using a fine application tip cover the top of the purfling in thin super glue between the cloths pins. Be careful to not get the glue on the plate as it can seep in and stain. Let this dry and remove the cloth pins. Add glue where the cloths pins were. If you have a small gap in your purfling and channel you can pump super glue in there and watch it slowly work its way around you channel underneath the purfling if you place a light underneath.

Trimming the purfling

1. I started by using an xacto knife to get really close to flush. Take this cut in many passes especially as you get close to dimension. If the purfling is coming up in any places add more glue to the top of it before you get to final dimension. Also make sure you don't cut into your plate with the knife.
2. At the corners with my xacto knife blade I cut both pieces of purfling at once to prevent any separation.
3. After cutting I started using sandpaper on the back and scrapers on the top to get it flush.
4. Run your hand over the purfling to ensure it is flush.

To continue with the tedious nature of this project we will begin the process to hollow the plates

To begin we will employ a similar strategy to shaping the outside of the plates by adding holes on the inside. The only problem with adding holes on the inside is the violin is curved. To combat this while drilling we will add a small post of wood right under where we are drilling. This will allow us to drill an accurate distance on a curved surface to get an accurate thickness across the violin plates.

1. Start by making the post. I took a scrap of 3/4 plywood and drilled a 1/2 hole. I glued a dowl into the hole. After drying I used thin double stick tape to attach it to the drill press table with the center of the dowl aligning with the center of the drill bit.
2. On the plates I marked the depth at different locations with points where I wanted to drill. Don't drill within 7mm of the outer edge of either plate. This section overhangs the ribs or is where the ribs glue to the plates.
3. Select a point on your plate. Using a standard twist bit set the quill stop 1mm higher than the final height of the plate at that point. Repeat until all the points are drilled. I should have drilled more holes as it would have saved me time later.

The next step is we need to construct a jig to hold the violin with the inside facing up. There are many ways to make a better jig but this I believe is the most simple but effective:

1. To start mark the curves from corner to corner on both the top and the bottom curves on two 1/4 piece of plywood leaving 3 inches of excess. On the top curve don't forget the button!
2. On a 1/2 piece of plywood cut the same curves offset by about 1/4. Glue stacked on top of each other letting the bottom curve stick out.
3. Place a piece of 1/4 mdf under the two curves spanning the distance between then. Place the violin in between the two curves and mark the distance. Remove the violin and glue them on. Take out a tiny bit of wood
4. Add toggle clamps on the curves to clamp down the violin. Make sure they are not to tight the spruce can crack somewhat easily. Cut a mousepad and add it on the piece of plywood underneath the violin to protect it.

You are now ready to hollow your violin!

It is now time to hollow both of our plates. It turns out this was far more time consuming compared to shaping the outside. There are also some new rules for carving:

1. Compared to carving a convex surface the concave surface is harder to carve.
2. There are many more instances where the plane is going to want to go uphill. This still can't be done find creative ways to go down.
3. The curvature of the planes tends to not fit as well within the concave surface. To combat this use smaller planes and be careful to still keep the surface flat.
4. Before you start cutting mark the line 7mm in from the outsides. You are not going to cut outside of that line. The violin plates overhang by 3mm, the ribs are 1mm thick, and the linings are 3mm thick. This rim is your glue or overhang area for the ribs.
5. The insides of the top and the back do need to be smooth. This smoothness will effect how the sound bounces around on the inside.
6. Using gouges start to remove the majority of the material down the to holes you drilled. When you being to get close, especially on the spruce, switch to the planes.
7. Using your luthier caliper measure the thickness of the plate at each point as you get close. I marked a circle around the areas I measured as got within 0.1mm of final dimension. I finished with scrapers to smooth. I marked a circle once my plate got to thickness in each spot. This was incredibly tedious.
8. A further point is since the wood your using is different from the wood Stradivari used all these thicknesses are really incorrect. I used light behind the violin to see any particularly dense parts once I was at thickness and removed material in these locations until the color show by the light was uniform for each thickness.
9. You're going to need to get creative with the direction when using the planes and gouges. There are some weird concave shapes in there.
10. As you get close with the planes take the violin out of the jig and just work on a towel. it will make it easier to take measurements. I followed the dimensions from Stradivarius's violin but since all wood is different densities realistically these are not correct.

For such little writing in this step it is a lot of work. Have fun!

This is a somewhat fun and interesting step.

1. Start by marking the f-holes using a template. I simply eyeballed there placement but you could easily measure this. Mark holes with pencil.
2. Using a drill bit slightly smaller than the circular portion on the end of the f-holes drill a hole in your plate. Note that the holes on each side of the f-hole are different sizes. Don't push to hard or you will crack your plate. I did not use one but a support under the plate might be a good idea. Also run your drill at a fast speed if using a power drill to prevent cracking along the grain.
3. To do this next step I held my violin flat off the edge of the table. I placed the saw handle under the table rather than on top. You don't need strength for this operation only precision. Cut out the bulk of the material for the f-holes using a coping saw. I used a old coping saw with a metal blade (bad idea. Only saying to show it really does not matter that much). Stay far away from your line. At the top and bottom run the coping saw through the small gap once. Ignore bridge alignment indents during your cut.
4. Using a rattail file get your holes on the end of the f-holes to size. Leave a hair small for now. This will allow us to make the holes tangent to the curved portion of the f-holes later.
5. Using a knife follow the diagram above to remove the remaining material. Doing heavy cuts with the knife will work well for making a smooth line compared to just scrapping the edges which will leave a rough finish. Ensure blend between the the holes and the rest of the curve is smooth.
6. Use needle files to clean up the edges of the curved parts of the holes. Don't use them on the parts you drilled earlier so they remain round. Any spot where files don't fit use sandpaper.
7. One of my files was a triangle and happened to have the correct angles for the bridge alignment nubs. I simply used the file to complete these.

Keeping all of that in mind the main thing is to ensure the two holes are actually symmetric. In the end there will be a lot of going back and forth between the knives, files, and sandpaper before you achieve an acceptable result.

The base bar is a singular brace on the inside of the top of the violin. It is most ideal if his bar is made from the same piece of wood as the violin plate but this is not required. To make the base bar cut the spruce to 267mm x 15mm x 5mm. Shape the ends of the base bar leaving it very large so it somewhat fits the curve of the violin. Next grind down the edge of the pencil and mark the curvature of the violin top plate onto the base bar. Using your gouges and knives remove the remaining material until you are very close to the curvature of the violin. Keep in mind you need to match the curve for both the long and skinner dimensions of the bar to get a tight fit.

Once you get close we are going to "floss" the base bar to get it to fit perfectly. This is a common technique used to get perfect fitment on guitar necks. To start place blocks on the back of the violin constraining the base bar as shown in the diagram above. Starting on the top of the violin pick up the base bar and insert a piece of 80 grit sandpaper. Put the bass bar back and apply pressure so the sandpaper can be pulled out without ripping. Repeat this process until the bass bar fits perfectly on this half. Work your way up to 220 grit sandpaper doing this process. Next do the same thing for the bottom half of the violin. Ensure it still fits on the top once you complete this process. No gaps should be visible. If the base bar does not fit perfectly it will put unnecessary stress on the top and is not ideal for sound.

The final step before gluing the entire thing together!

The base bar now needs to be glued in. I left the blocks in place to help with the alignment. Be sure to remove these once the piece is clamped to prevent them from accidently being attached. I applied a small amount of hide glue to the bottom of the base bar. You don't want excessive squeeze out as this can effect the sound. I used a file as a caul because it was next to me at the time but obviously a more traditional caul could be used. I clamped with a blanked between my clamps and the top to prevent denting. You should not need much pressure because the base bar fits perfectly.

Next the bass bar needs to be shaped. Look at the diagram above to get the shape the height correctly. You can achieve the shape by using gouges. Another good trick is the use a flat chisel with the bevel facing down. This can really help make a smooth concave curve. The bass bar should basically have no thickness on the ends and blend into the plate of the violin. Next I used finger planes to begin to get the curvature on the skinny side. I really only used them to remove the hard edges and begin to get a somewhat triangular shape. After this I simply used sandpaper starting at 60 grit to achieve the rest of the shape. I used calipers to check the height as I went. Once the proper shape was achieved I went over the entire area with scrapers.

Once this is complete you can tune the plates. So as it turns out this is really complicated and I took the simple road here. If you want to do a really amazing job read this http://www.makingtheviolin.com/Tuning or if that gets to confusing follow this link. For myself I simply held both plates 1/3 of the way down and tapped them checking the note. I then removed material until they both were an "F". My plates were really close to start with so I was really just removing material randomly. Once again if you want to do a really good job here read the article.

This is the final step before you "close the box". Exciting stuff.

The main thing to prepare is all the clamps needed for this process. You can use normal clamps but you risk denting the spruce and I already had these from my guitar. To make them:

1. Using 3/8 threaded rod cut into segments about 120mm long. You can either buy at this length or use a piece of all thread. Remember to put a nut on the threads to fix the end before cutting anything threaded.
2. Glue a piece of cork to a 1 inch thick board of wood. These will be your clamping faces. Drill many out using 1.5 inch holes saw. I have 27 of them and used almost all of them when gluing up the violin. You need two pieces per clamp
3. Drill hole in the center that is about 13/32. On one piece per clamp screw in a 3/8 threaded insert. Make sure the thread pitch matches. On the other simply slide it onto the rod. Add a wingnut as the screw to clamp.
4. Alternatively you can but something similar from Stewmac.

The ribs also need to be prepared before the gluing:

1. Remove ribs from the mold. I had way to much glue and needed to cut mine into four pieces. It was a bad time. Somewhere on your ribs mark which side is perpendicular to the sides and which is not (remember we cut a taper earlier).
2. Remove material from the corner blocks until it looks like the picture above. Most of the material not touching or tangent to the ribs should be removed. The bottom block should stick out from its lowest point about 7mm with a small curve on the inside. The top needs to be deeper for the mortise. I completed all of this used a gouge splitting the spruce by the end grain. Clean up with flat chisel and files.
3. Generally clean up the ribs. Make sure the corners look good, sand the inside, and remove any extra glue. The ribs are thin so make sure you don't go through them.
4. Be really careful during this process to not chip the sides. The lining should really help prevent this but still be careful.

The final step is to make a tag for the inside of your violin. I placed a sticky label in my typewriter and simply placed my name and the year on it. I then cut the label to size and used a tiny bit of superglue to hold it in. Stack the back, ribs, and top on with the label to check the alignment before gluing.

A quick note before gluing. Some individuals on the internet have come up with a new method of setting the neck mortise before gluing the back plate on. This is because the nub on the back does not allow for the use of a Japanese saw and makes filing more difficult. I did not use this new method and simply glued the entire thing together before making the mortise.

1. Before gluing I did a test glue up. I glued my plates on using Titebond original. I wanted more time than the hide glue allows.
2. The ribs are pretty flexible. During your test glue ups make sure all the corners align at the correct distance. If they don't you can help the ribs get into position.
3. Don't use excessive amounts of glue. Wipe away any excess. Any squeeze out on the inside can't be wiped away and could effect sound.
4. I set my calipers to 3mm to check the overhang distance.
5. I started with clamping the corners to ensure they aligned properly. I then moved onto the top and bottom blocks.
6. This is not a difficult glue up. Just take your time.
7. Repeat the same way for the other side. (Before gluing the back on decide if you want to cut the mortise first. As will become apart when reading the mortise step it can be easier to cut it out without having the button blocking your chisels and files)

If you don't want to make a finger board you can just buy one online but where is the fun in that?!?

Start with a high quality piece of ebony which is 275mm x 45mm x 12.5mm. I started by cutting the taper using a pull saw leaving it large. I took off the remainder using a plane so it would be smooth. Before shaping I used my calipers to scribe a line 6mm up from the glue face of the fingerboard. This area gets no curve and remains perpendicular to the bottom.

Unlike a guitar fretboard which has a compound radius, violin fingerboards only have a single radius throughout. This makes them much easier to shape. A standard violin has a fingerboard radius of 42mm. You will need to buy a radius block online to complete this next step. Start removing material from the top of the fingerboard to make the curve using a gouge. Be careful not to gouge to deep. Once you are getting close try to take lighter passes to make it smooth. Then switch to rasps and files to remove any small dips or bumps. Note that in the center of the fingerboard it should be taken down by 0.5mm from flat. This is to prevent buzzing. After this I switched to 60 grit sandpaper. Once I got close to final dimension I switched to radius block which has sandpaper attached. I covered my fingerboard in chalk so I could see where the high and low spots were as I ran the radius block over.

To achieve the undercut on the fingerboard I started by tracing out a shape with pencil. It should begin at 139mm. I then began to gouge out the area. I was really careful near the front to make it a uniform thickness and symmetrically because you can see it. Once most was gouged out I simply used the end of a rasp and sandpaper to smooth.

To begin making the neck/scroll you need to cut out the side profile from a block of wood. The scroll is the carved piece at the top while the neck refers to anything else with this piece of wood. To begin you will need a piece of quartersawn maple which is 300mm x 80mm x 50mm. This piece of wood can be tapered as shown in the picture above. It is traditional to use flamed maple here. Once you have this shape cut out you should use a template to cut out the actual scroll shape. Print the template out on paper and using spray adhesive attach it to the wood with the straight edge needed for the fingerboard aligned with the top of your wood chunk. Do note if the template you are using does not have a small bump between the transition of the fingerboard section and top of the scroll the template will need to be moved down by 1mm in the fingerboard dimension. While you are here mark the holes for the peg holes and curve of the scroll.

Cut out the shape you traced on the band saw. Some sections are impossible to get with the band saw. Simply get close with the band saw and use files and rasps to make it perfect. Smooth to the line all the curves with files and rasps as well before continuing. I drilled the holes for the pegs now. You could do the same but it can make it more annoying to carve as there is now a void every time you use a gouge or plane in this area. The benefit is if you accidently get tear out it will be cut away later and once the scroll is not flat it will be harder to drill the holes straight. Drill the holes using a 5mm drill bit. These holes will be finished with a tapered reamed later.

Using the caliper or making gauge, mark a center line where the neck meets the violin, where the fingerboard will be glued on, and the pegbox. Do not mark the center of the scroll directly in the center. The finished scroll has a ridge directly in the center so your center mark will remain in the finished product. To combat this mark the center of the scroll with two lines each a 1 mm off-center. Also mark the end of the fingerboard and its width. The fingerboard is 136mm from the bottom of the neck where it meets the violin. I placed my fingerboard on the neck being careful to ensure it was centered before marking the edges. "Fingerboard template for neck" can also be used to mark this if you have not made your neck yet. Going back to the top of the fingerboard mark the thickness for the nut which is about 6.8mm. Using the marking gauge mark the edges of the pegbox. Initially mark an edge of 12mm from center on each side (same as fingerboard). Then as seen in the picture above mark a second line flaring out from the first near the nut and slowly rejoining the line previously made later as the scroll is approached. This will prevent the strings from hitting the edge of the pegbox. Template "B" from "Upper Scroll Templates" can also be used to mark this. To mark the fluting on the back of the scroll you will need template "A" from "Upper Scroll Templates" to get rough idea of where these features will be. Make sure this is centered before you mark it. An extra set of hands will help you here.

That was a lot of dimensions to mark. Now we can begin to cut out the neck on these lines until it looks like the picture above. Take this slow it would be disappointing to restart because you cut slightly to far. The band saw is a bit to fast to complete most of these operations. A Japanese pull saw is a better tool to use. Start near the top of the pegbox. Make the cut perpendicular to the center of the neck up to the edge of the mark for the fluting on the back. Next make a cut from the bottom of the neck up following the line for the fingerboard, then nut, and then the edge of the pegbox. Once again ensure you don't cut into the fluting on the back. You will end with a violin with the neck mostly cut out but having an uncut scroll.

To begin this is going to be significantly easier if you have a neck in front of you to look and and measure as you do this. It gets confusing really fast.

To begin cutting the scroll mark lines tangent to the curve you drew on the scroll eariler as seen in the picture above. It does not need to be perfect just stay out of the curved marked area. Following the numbers make cuts using your pull saw roughly to the depth of the fluting. Don't get to close you will clean this up with gouges later anyway. Once all these cuts are completed flip the scroll over. Begin to cut out these segments using the pull saw. Follow the fluting and be careful to not go to deep and dig into the center of the scroll. You should now have a rough scroll looking object.

For the next step it will be very helpful to have a scroll in front of you. The important part here is trying to keep the scroll symmetric. Start by smoothing out the edges where the pegbox is. To do this use you can use a very shallow, large gouge and a convex finger plane. Once this is smooth you can begin to shape around the "eye" of the scroll. The spiral going around the center is not a constant radius. Using what gouges you have you want to most closely match the radius of your gouge to the radius of the spiral at that point. The idea is to use the radius of the gouge to remove the excess wood vertically from the spiral. For all the places it does not perfectly match use rasps and files to get it perfect.

We can not repeat much of the same process again to complete the smaller spiral. You should still have the curve marked from the first step. To mark the depth of cut I simply eyeballed it. Remember the scroll needs to keep wrapping around so this line will start at the top of the previous spiral you cut going upwards on the new spiral you are about to cut intersecting with the edge of the wood. You can see the line I am attempting to describe in a picture above. Next mark tangent lines and cut them similar to how we did last time for the large spiral. Clean up with gouges and rasps again. The currently flat portions of the spiral parallel to the eye need to be cut. Using a gouge going in toward the eye remove material with the deepest portion being near the center of each spiral. Look at your example scroll to get the depth correct. In your violin kit there should be a bunch of funny shaped scrapers. These are mostly for the scroll. You can use these along with sandpaper to finish smoothing the scroll.

Onto the fluting the pegbox!

To do the fluting start by looking at the back of the scroll. Using a small gouge being remove material from the marked area. Be careful to not accidently hit the center as in the end we are going to make this a sharp point. Try to keep the depth constant. Slowly work your way around the scroll until you need to flip it over and do the front. On the front you want the fluting to wrap until the scroll so you can't see its end when looking at the scroll from the front. Get close with the scrapers but be carful to not slip and hit other portions of the scroll. When you run out of clearance for the gouge switch to a small thin file. Once the fluting is roughly completed with gouges it can be completes with scrapers and a rattail file. The special scrapers from the violin set will once again come in handy for this step. This is going to take a long time but it worth it to get a nice smooth flute on the top of the violin. Finish with sandpaper being carful to not flatten the sharp edge in the center of the flute.

Now we can complete the pegbox. The most important part of the pegbox is that you don't accidently go through the back of the scroll. Since we already have the peg holes drilled it is easier to determine the depth from within the pegbox. Don't go significantly deeper than the pegs. Start by marking from the edge of the scroll 5mm in from each side. This is the wall thickness of the pegbox. Mark a line past the final peg hole parallel to the nut. Using a hand drill create a series of holes in the pegbox to remove the bulk of the material. Placing a piece of tape on your drill it to prevent going to deep will help. Using flat chisels remove the rest of the material from the pegbox. I made the inside of the pegbox roughly follow the outside of the violin. At the bottom I made the pegbox go back pretty much perpendicular to the mounting face of the fingerboard.

Using files clean up the inside and that is it! You're done with the scroll!

You're in the homestretch at this point.

To begin measure your example neck to find the thickness at both ends and one point in the middle of the neck. Using the rattail rasp take these points down to the correct thickness. Using a flat rasp connect these points attempting to get the profile of the neck correct as you carve. Be careful to not make the neck smaller by rounding near the top where the fingerboard needs to connect. Once close switch to fine files for the final smoothing. Near the button it is really easy to get a "crease" in the wood where the transition is. Complete this area using the domed edge of the file or rasp rather than the edge. The edge will dig into the wood making this crease. The idea right now is to simply get the button close. We will make it perfect once it is on the violin.

The next step is to temporarily attach the fingerboard to the neck. I did this with double stick tape combined with painters tape just to be safe. Make sure the alignment is correct we will utilize it a lot in the coming step. We do this for two reason:

1. To check that the neck is the right size width wise.
2. To get the alignment correct when cutting the mortise in the next step.

This is one of the most critical and intricate steps of the entire process.

To start I held the neck up to the violin HIGHER than it will be when inserted into the violin. This will make the mortise smaller than it will be when completed because the neck block is tapered. Using a chisel I removed the overhang from the spruce place preventing the neck from pressing up again the sides. Once the neck could be placed on the sides I used an xacto knife to trace the taper of the neck block onto the violin. Removing the neck I cut through the sides and into the spruce block. Using gouges and chisels I removed the material inside the mortise. I determined the depth of the mortise by measuring 132mm from the top of the violin to the end of the fingerboard on the pegbox side. I continued to remove material until I was at the correct depth.

Using the very sharp chisel I slightly undercut the edge of the mortise by adding a slight bevel to it. This will make the top have a very tight fit and will make the following step far easier because there is less material to remove. There are 4 things we need to lookout for. Small changes to the mortise will have large results. Everything done below is done with fine files.

1. The fingerboard needs to be straight left and right when looking at the violin straight on. This can be checked by eye or with a straight edge. Mark the center of the fingerboard at the bottom and use a straightedge to check if it is straight compared to the glue joint in the top. You can change this by removing material from the bottom of the mortise on the left and right respectably.
2. The height near the block. Simply check this using a ruler. Since the neck needs to fit tight in the mortise to change this you will be taking material off the bottom of the heel block. Make sure you are removing this straight and flat or there will be a gap. If the block does not push down because it is tight remove material from the side of the mortise but make sure it is both straight and flat. If not there will be gaps.
3. The angle of the fingerboard. This is the really important measurement to get correct. This will effect the string height. Place a straight edge on the highest point of the fingerboard (the center). Using the indicators you placed on the f-holes earlier place a ruler going straight up. They should intersect and the ruler facing up should read 27mm. You can change this by removing material from the bottom of the mortise on the front and back respectably.
4. The fingerboard needs to be the correct distance from the body. This should already be correct but you could make the mortise deeper if needed.

On top of all of that the fingerboard needs to push all the way down in the mortise leaving no gaps where it meets the sides or where it meets the back and from plate. This process will take a long time but it is will worth it for a well fitting neck.

After this I glued on the neck using Titebond 1. I decided not to use hide glue because I really wanted this to be as strong as possible though I am sure hide glue would have been perfectly fine. Since my mortise was really tight I only added a clamp to ensure there was a tight fit with the button on the back though it honestly probably did not need it. The other clamps are simply there to elevate the violin so the clamp fit better.

**Following this I made an error. I glued on my fingerboard before applying finish. This makes it very hard to apply the finish and leads to a not good appearance when looking under the fingerboard. I also used the wrong tape to mask the fingerboard which left residue I needed to sand off. Don't do what I did glue on your fingerboard after applying finish.

Finishing for a violin is split into 4 basic steps. There is a large amount of waiting from this point forward:

Sealing:

The first step is to seal the violin with some kind of sealer. This is done for two main reasons. The first is to prevent a huge amount of finish simply being soaked into the violin where it is wasted. The other is to get a more even coat of finish. Due to the fact that the wood will soak up finish unevenly this will translate to the appearance of the violin. Adding a sealer coat will make the finish get absorbed more uniformly leading to a more even finish.

Staining:

Staining gives a base color before you begin to stain your colored varnish. It can enhance the end color by directly effecting the color of the wood. To stain my violin did two things. First I put on two coats of Joha varnish in ground clear. I then made a UV tanning box. We will talk in the next step about how to make a tanning box.

Varnish:

The actual varnish is what makes your violin have color. I used the Joha varnish system for this. I picked a few colors as you can mix them. You are also definitely going to get the color extracts as this is what will drastically change the color of the varnish. For some reason Joha did not include any instructions and none are available online. Instructions only come with the complete kit. Thanks Joha.

Clear: After leaving the varnish to cure in indirect sunlight for 6 weeks clear can be added. This length of time is required for the varnish to fully harden This helps to protect the violin along with giving additional depth to the finish.

Varnish while it will cure in sunlight it will cure significantly faster in some sort of UV drying chamber. With the UV light more concentrated you can also use this to tan your violin. Wood like people tan and can make this really nice golden brown base.

1. To start you need a large reflective container large enough to hold the violin and the UV lights. I ended up using a trash can which worked well. You can cover just about any container in reflective tape to get a wife approved option. Good thing I don't have that problem so trash can it is.
2. To hang the violin I used a 1/4 piece of all thread which went through the peg hole of the violin to hold it in the air. I would swap this out for a solid steel bar the all thread dug into the peg hole of my violin from being slid over. Near the top of the trash can I drilled two holes on opposite ends to slide the bar through. You do want to leave enough space for a light to fit underneath the violin.
3. I quickly learned that the curing box needed some sort of ventilation. I used a set of tin snips to cut a circular hole in the lid for a fan. I simply left the fan sitting on top.
4. To add the lights I simply held them in the trash can where I wanted to let the cables run over the edge to the outside. I then added a piece of tape to the cable to hold it in place. I used 6 lights placing one underneath, by the scroll, and pointing at the plates and sides. I just waited a long time to ensure every part of the violin was fully cured.
5. To ensure the violin does not dry out you need to place a cup of water inside the chamber with no lid. You will notice this rapidly evaporating throughout this process.

I made my own sanding sealer by dissolving violin rosin in alcohol. I kept adding rosin until there was a thin layer of rosin on the bottom. I then strained the mixture. You could also use a commercial sanding sealer but this mixture will bring out more of the figure in the wood. Using a brush I painted a thin layer of the mixture on the violin and let it dry overnight. Once it is dry the figure should be exaggerated compared to before.

Next I painted on a base coat of varnish. For this I used Joha ground clear. I did not mix it with anything and simply painted it on leaving it to dry for 2 days in between coats. I did not sand between these coats. To apply this I brushed following the grain on the front ensuring I covered the entire thing. Varnish does dry somewhat quickly so you need to work in an area and slowly over over. If you take to long you will simply start pulling the varnish on the surface instead of spreading it. On the back I brushed against the grain. To do the edges of the plates I switched to a significantly smaller brush to allow me to get the details. The sides were a unique challenge. I used a brush about 20mm wide and carefully varnished the sides ensuring the varnish would not pool up. To do the scroll I used a small brush around the heel and bottom section of the scroll. Rather than brushing with the curve of the scroll of the violin I brushed perpendicular to it.

After this I left my violin in the tanning box for 2 and a half weeks. I actually went on vacation so I did see it until I got back. There was a significant different in color that I of course forgot to take a picture of. Make sure you have enough water in your drying pot to ensure your violin does not dry out.

Now it is time to actually add some color to the violin!

As said in the previous step the varnish was lacking in instructions so this is what I determined to do after some experimentation on scrap wood. Most of the rules for brushing it on are the same outlined in the previous step. A few base concepts first:

1. Diluting the varnish in any way with turpentine lead to bad results. The varnish would dry almost instantly and was very runny. In the end I did not dilute my varnish in any way.
2. It seems as though the base varnishes have very little color in them. After 3 coats of colored varnish (but no color extract) the violin was not really getting darker. On my test pieces there was color change but once I put it thin on the violin it was not. I added color extract and noticed an immediate effect.
3. Note if you add to much color extract it will dry to quickly and ruin that coat. If you really mess up any coat I was about to remove the coat while it was still fresh with mineral spirits without damaging the coat below.
4. The more coats you add the darker it gets. I did 7 coats but you theoretically can add coats endlessly.

Ok lets put on some varnish. When I actually started adding color I used brown base varnish with a good amount of red-brown color extract. I saved scrap pieces from both my top and back so I could test the color. I did several coats of this adding more extract every time because the color was getting better and better with more extract. After that my later coats were a dark brown base with brown extract. It is interesting that I used very dark colors and in the end the violin really did not turn out very dark. Between every coat I left the violin in the drying chamber for at least 4 days. This is probably overkill but I wanted to be safe was in no hurry to finish this project.

Once all the colored varnish is added the violin needs to sit in indirect sunlight for 6 weeks allowing the varnish to reach its full hardness. Once this happens the clear varnish can be applied. This is mostly for protection. It can be applied the same way as the colored varnish. I did also blacken my f-holes. I simply used a small brush and acrylic paint for this.

For the saddle cut a piece of ebony that is 36mm x 8mm x 8mm tall. Mark a line about 5mm up from the bottom of the saddle. This is the amount the saddle will be set into the violin. Mark the center on the 7 mm side. Begin to shape the portion above to a point like in the picture above. The angle of the slope is a 60 degree angle. The center potion before the curve is about 22mm. To get a tight looking fit to the violin bevel the side touching the violin by a few degrees. The saddle should also not fit super tight. Since ebony and spruce expand and contract at different rates the spruce top will crack if the ebony saddle is to tight. When the violin is flipped over the saddle should fall out. Once the fit is good add hide glue and clamp with rubber bands.

The nut goes at the top of the violin. Cut a piece of ebony to 28mm x 7mm x 12mm. All you need to do is add an arc to one side of the nut. The face mating to the fingerboard should remain flat. The side facing away should have a slope for a few mm. When you go to glue this on note it should not be glued to the neck. It should only be glued to the fingerboard. I used rubber bands from under the fingerboard to the top holding the nut to clamp this. I used Titebond for this because I thought it might fall off.

At this point you can apply finish to all the ebony components on the violin. I used Odies oil but I don't believe this to be the best choice. I have noticed it dulls quickly for items you touch a lot. Use fingerboard oil. Since I don't play the violin and this is just going to sit on a shelf I would prefer the better look of Odies oil.

Almost there!

Soundpost - You need to buy a soundpost tool. The soundpost should be a really straight grain dowl of spruce. The idea is it is a 1/3 of the way down the to remove a vibration dead zone and you place it in relation to the bridge. Reference the picture above for location. The tool for placing the sound post should also come with a tool to measure the correct height. Cut the soundpost long and use a chisel to cut angles matching the plates for a good mating surface (to the best of your ability). Next stab the soundpost with the soundpost inserting tool and try to get it stuck in the correct position.

Bridge - You should buy a bridge. You can cut out your own but finding maple with the correct grain pattern is hard and its really small. I bought one with ebony on two of the strings. You do need to shape the bridge feet to your violin. To do this use your cutoff pencil from before to mark roughly the curvature of the violin onto the feet of the bridge. Cut to your line with an x-acto knife. Real easy to cut yourself here (guess how I know) put on gloves or wrap your hand in an apron. Next I used the same flossing technique we used on the bass bar to make it fit perfectly.

Pegs - I did not make my own pegs. I did not have access to a lathe at the time. The distance from the wall of the pegbox to the inner knob of the peg should be able 15mm once the peg is pushing in tightly. I did one peg carefully a marking the stopping point on my reamer before I reamed the remaining holes. The reamer should be on the left side for the hole closest to the nut. On the side with the knob I marked a line on the pegs 4mm from the inside of the pegbox. At this point I drilled a 1.5mm hole for the G,D,A strings and a 1mm hole for the E string.

End peg - I started by drilling a 4mm hole in the bottom of my violin. I lined up my mark to the book match of the top and used some caliper to mark the center of the sides. I then used the reamer making sure the end peg had about 1mm of clearance from the ribs. If the end peg bottoms out on the ribs it is to loose. Add some tape to the taper on the end peg.

Tailpiece - I made a tailpiece but them found the one online which I liked more. This is the one currently on the violin. Take the tailgut and attach it to the bottom of the tailpiece. This wraps around the end peg. If you want to make your own cut out a template of one and then simply shape it with chisels.

Chinrest - I bought a partially finished chinrest. I did a small amount of work with files and sandpaper. I also mounted the hardware for it. I marked a uniform height on the side of the chinrest where the clamp needed to mount. I then measured the distance between the two legs and transferred this dimension to the chinrest. Using a 3/32 drill bit I drilled the hole in the chinrest and threaded in hardware. I then reassembled everything and used a paperclip to turn the turnbuckles on the hardware to get it on the violin after I applied Odies oil and Odies wax. Odies wax really helps the piece to not fade from touching it.

I actually really like how the stand came out and I have never seen anything like it so here is how I did it. This is fairly easy build if you have a violin and like this stand.

Materials:

1. 1 inch diameter acrylic rod (about 2 inches long)
2. 1 inch id brass bushings (mine are 1-1/4 od and 1 inch long)
3. Some cool piece of wood. Mine is 7.5in x 8.5in x 1in but it could be bigger or smaller
4. Acrylic sheet 1/16. Could also use wood but I had this on hand
5. Thick super glue
6. The only special tool needed is a 1-1/4 forester bit
7. Feet for bottom of stand

Lets make it!

1. I started by bending the acrylic. The idea is to bend it so it fits the shape of the ribs and is constrained by the overhang of the sides. You need to use a heat gun for this. The bending iron will burn the acrylic. Start by cutting a piece that is 32mm x 100mm. Next sand the 32mm dimension until it perfectly fits into the area between the two plates. The one end should wrap under the chin rest bracket and hit the end pin. Put on some gloves and use a heat gun to warm up the acrylic. Use your inner rib template to bend the acrylic to shape. Be careful to not kink it as you bend it into shape. Directly under the chin rest bracket I added a small second piece of acrylic to increase the thickness so the acrylic pushes on the bracket.
2. Cut the wood base to shape and use a router to give some sort of edge profile. I used a chamfer bit set deep so it has a small lip on the top. Mark a dot in the middle and drill a 1-1/4 inch hole about 1/2in deep. Sand and add finish to wood. I used Odies oil combined with Odies wax. Add feet to the corners to prevent scratching the bottom. I made some out of some fake leather I found.
3. Cut the acrylic rod. I did this on my band saw. Hold the piece really tight if it slips it will break the blade because it is round. I cut a curve on the one side to try to match the curve of the bent acrylic. I then I used super glue to hold the entire thing together. If this turns out not being sufficient I will use epoxy in the future.
4. I then super glued the brass bushing into the hole drilled into the wood. Using my square I ensured it was in straight. I simply placed the acrylic rod into the hole without glue completing the stand.

I was fortunate enough to speak with an actual luthier about my violin. This is what he said along with other errors I made:

1. The f holes were to small. I cut them bigger so the soundpost would fit. They were also to tight of a curve at the bottom. I think this looks better but this is technically wrong.
2. My back is American maple which is to dense to make a violin from. It has been done but is not so common.
3. My neck was to thin and the shape is wrong. Where the neck connects to the scroll it should be a much more sudden curve.
4. The base of my neck where it connects to the violin is to thick.
5. Start with the purfling channel on the back. It is significantly easier than the front.
6. Many of my purfling corners don't quite line up. The varnish filled small gaps in the purfling much more than expected. Use this to your advantage and make sure the corners are perfect even if it causes gaps throughout. Removing material from the purfling before gluing will help to see the alignment closer to the plate where it actually matter.
7. My edges overhang the ribs to much. I knew this while I was making but left it because I like it.
8. I should have glued on the fingerboard after applying finish. Very hard to apply around the under the board. Connected to this the tape I used to mask the fingerboard was wrong. It will a very long time to get off.
9. I glued the ribs to the mold to much making it hard to remove.
10. Buying a cheap instrument to use as an example would be really helpful. Some things are very hard to measure or tell from pictures and really just need to be felt.
11. I put my internal label on backwards... you can't even make this stuff up...

Most of the errors in their respective steps I mentioned. This is just all the errors consolidated. Not to bad for the first go.

The most important step of the entire guide. These are the resources I used to make my violin as I have no formal training.

1. http://www.makingtheviolin.com/ - Gives dimensions and instructions for everything. Instructions can sometimes be confusing but overall this was a super useful site to read as I was working. This website does seem to go down frequently. If it is down either wait for it to come back or use way back machine.
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwgXGO_NEL4&list=PLy6vkduAqRo_V28Y9MNpixcYpmdYeg8HQ - Very good Youtube series on making a violin. Host is professionally trained and the instructions are clear. Does not usually provide dimensions.
3. How to make a violin by Juliet Baker was a wonderful resource. I highly recommend getting a copy to reference as you build.
4. I bought plans from genOne luthier thinking they would be really helpful as they were when I made my guitar. They were not. Many critical dimensions were missing. Looking at the preview might be useful but they were far from being worth $40. https://genone-luthier-supply.com/collections/other-instrument-plans/products/stradivari-violin-4-4
5. https://cad.onshape.com/documents/61d73b63bcc55fbae4ddf2a5/w/7287fa4c922d9e94bc16ef0b/e/bd7b1b1fe08d8a2472f3abab?renderMode=0&uiState=68bcfa542417bef07d4aa3be - This is my personal CAD models I created to make the templates for the violin.
6. Your local luthier! As you get further along some of them will really like this. Some will really not. Mine happened to be a grumpy old guy and even he thought it was cool!

The resources to make a violin are vastly different from say making a guitar. They are very very limited.

Places to buy parts, supplies, and tools.

1. International violin - I ordered most of my special violin tools and parts from here. Prices are reasonable and there is large selection of stuff.
2. Your local lumber yard - Most of the wood I used on this project is from my "local" exotic lumber yard, Hearnes Hardwood. I like being able to pick my wood myself to check for defects and to get the best piece. Highly suggest going its a cool place and the pricing is usually better than online with way more selection. My back was $16 and the front was $25.
3. Ebay/Amazon - ya the quality tends to not be there but its quick and easy...
4. Stewmac - The quality is usually very high but often expensive.

It was fun making this instrument, even though I don't know how to play it, (and to be honest I don't really like the sound of violins). I hope you enjoyed reading this guide. It turned out being a significantly more complicated and time consuming project than expected. This violin is now on display in a case on the ground floor in University of Maryland's JMP engineering building if your around town and want to see it. Leave a comment and let me know what you think or if you would like more information. My Instagram is @griffin_makes_cool_stuff if you want to see more cool stuff. Happy building and I hope you learned something!