Now that all of the individual pieces are done, we can start the assembly process. The first step is to remove the rib assembly from the form and clean up the blocks. We then cut a small chamfer along the bottom edge of the top and bottom plates. We are now ready to glue together [...]
With the plates tuned, we are ready to cut the f-holes (my favourite part of violin making) and install the bassbar (my least favourite part of violin making). To start with, we layout the f-holes and cut the “hole” part. The layout is very critical because of the relationship between the location of the f-holes [...]
We are now ready to tune the top and back plates of “The Rebecca”. My method of plate tuning is based upon the work of Carleen Hutchins. Carleen spent a lifetime researching the relationships between the various resonant frequencies of free-standing violin plates and the tone of the resulting violin. I look primarily at two [...]