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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
My Niece was just gifted an amazing German Violin, 1 French bow, 1 carbon fiber bow, 1 Bobelock case. They hurried over to show and play it for us. We are blown away on several levels.
There are a lot of violin books available. On Scribd.com you can access a lot of older books on violin building, as well as articles and things. First thing, you might want to decide what type of violin you want to make - then, you can get a mold and other templates, which will make it a lot easier. You also need a building method.
H.S. "Henry" Wake has several softcover books that are very practical and doable in a home workshop.
Michael Darnton has written numerous articles in the Guild of American Luthiers, American Lutherie magazine. Again, very practical.
Joseph Curtin wrote a good article about tap tuning a violin, in the Strad, Oct. 2006.
Roy Courtnall's book, The Art of Violin Making (1999) is good and has a lot of pictures - it is almost step-by-step. It had good reviews, but the only criticism I recall reading about it was that there are many points along the building process, where something done one way could avoid later errors, and the reviewer did not think he explained how to avoid those well-known errors. I have the book and it is well done. There is a lot out there.
Tom, great info! I just wanted to mention that if one follows the directions and thicknesses the parts as described, a serviceable violin will result. You don't need to hear, as long as you have a decent musician to comment on the set-up and adjusting phase.
Thank you Arnold. I agree about following the directions. One get dial it in closer by using the audio spectrum programs to take a "picture" of the response, and move the air resonance and top and back resonances to a more optimum place.
This was I'm my Google news feed today. It is interesting. There was a similar story in Smithsonian Magazine 30 or 40 years ago when Joseph Nagyvary and others were experimenting with soaking wood in urine. (yuck)
The secret of the Stradivari violin finally revealed
Last edited by Maurice Mcmurry; 05-21-2022 at 12:31 PM. Reason: spelling
Making instruments is one of my end goals. I started early on trying to get a mold going, but I could not for the life of me get Staples to print the Strad file at proper dimensions. I do not have a printer and I think I need to find a blueprint shop, for now I've given up on trying... I have been a musician all my life and was inspired by the movie Whisper of The Heart years ago, seeing the boy carving a violin by hand.