How I Spent My (late) Summer Vacation

[Hans Braul]

A week at the cottage to ponder the universe, eat good food, drink good wine and generally lay about. It poured rain much of the time, so I was very glad to have packed a few tools to play with. I found some scap pine, and started to play. I am planning to make an end table with legs that have a slight outward curve, so I decided I'd do a test piece in pine. Attached are pics of my makeshift workshop and the results. Happiness is a few hand tools and all the time in the world to play...

Hans

[Alan DuBoff]

That is a beautiful piece of work. I really like how the top is very A&C to me, but the tapered legs put a twist on that.

The whole piece works very well, IMO. My opinion *is* worth what you pay for it.;)

[Hans Braul]

Why thank you Alan, and your opinion is worth a lot more to me than what I paid for it!

By the way, I see you have a music interest. Have you ever considered taking a shot at violin making?

[Alan DuBoff]

Why thank you Alan, and your opinion is worth a lot more to me than what I paid for it!I don't know if it's worth more, but I can honestly say it's worth what you paid for it!:D

By the way, I see you have a music interest. Have you ever considered taking a shot at violin making?Sure, many times. I play upright bass, the largest of the violin family (although created quite a while after the violin, viola, cello, and related family).

It's really something you need to focus on as your only project, and I can't often afford to invest that much time. There are various levels of building instruments also, some buy base parts from a manufacturer, like the neck and/or body, then assemble and add the supports, carve the scroll, etc...and others create everything by hand.

Building violins is a magnificent art, and still to this day nobody knows for certain what caused the strads to sound so good, although many have hypotisized. Could have been that the wood sat in the water down in venice for lenghtly times, or that some chemicals were used to ward off insects which caused the wood to become more sensitive, nobody has figured it out for certain.

Many a people build instruments that sound like my toilet flushing, it's not as easy to do as one might think, and requires special tools and such. It is possible and I know people that have done it. The bass I currently play was built about 20 years ago, probably in Hungary or Romania, but is not a real cheap bass, it's quite good actually. I won't spend more to get an older, more vintage bass, and content to play this one. It is the first all wood bass I've owned that I could keep for myself over the years. The rest were plywood.

More practical than a bass would be for me to build a home.:D That's what I really want to do, and I have a piece of property that overlooks a lake. I can picture playing with family and friends looking out over the lake in the great room, while the fireplace crackles in the background. Ah heck go ahead and pinch me, my dream ain't that far yet! <LOL!>

[Mike Wenzloff]

What a pleasant way to spend a holiday, Hans! Great table...and what an inspiring workplace.

Take care, Mike