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I know it's hard to see but if you've seen some of my arching videos, I leave a flat area down the center line and work into that. So to my eye, there is still just a hint of flatness down the center especially in the lower bout. You can kind of see it just below the lower corners. Probably it would not be visible to anyone but me, only because I know it was there. Also it seems just a little bit not quite flat enough near the button where the neck will attach. I like to see it quite flat right over the end blocks. If you look at CT scans of original Stradivari violins it's quite flat right over the blocks. The tail end looks good though.

Thank you!, I put some yellow fustic dye on the wood for color and then a lean oil rosin varnish for the ground coating. The wood is curly maple.

Thanks! A little sloppy in the corners but coming along, how's yours going?

@@CooperViolins Sloppy! I’m editing video for part one, making the rib garland. I absolutely butchered my corners. Had to entirely redo the C-bouts, and it took me three attempts to get successful glue-ups on the front and back plates.

yeah I kind of messed up on the corners also. It's hard to get the shape right.

@@CooperViolins I should’ve clarified, the corners I’m referring to are where the ribs meet. I trimmed them back too far and they should be much more pointy. I’ll have to extend the overhang of the spruce and maple plates at their corners in order to preserve the front and back profile. It’s gonna look kinda goofy. But hey, it’s number one, and I’m certainly making tons of mistakes, or shall I say “learning opportunities” for what not to do next time.

@@BrianTimmonsTX I understand that! I have lots of learning opportunities too. This is number two I'm working on and still making mistakes, but better than number one.

I am building a violin and in this video I am working on the arching of the back plate. It is a long process. I'm spending a lot of time on the back plate trying to get the shape right.

Yes I learned a lot watching Davide's videos. He is a master of the craft and he makes better videos than I do! :D Thank you for watching mine!

Thanks for watching!

Hi, thanks for the comments! If you want to learn to build a violin, hopefully my videos will be instructive. Also I highly recommend watching the videos of Davide Sora. He is a master violin builder and has awesome videos. Yes the dog is my workshop helper, he likes to bark a lot! :D

@@CooperViolins thank you, yes I have seen Davide Sora his videos, but I'll watch them both now

The cleats work well keeping the plate steady but it has a tendency to lift up and out when rough gouging. It didn't do that with the pins. I'll have to use a clamp on one end to hold it down. But at least it's a lot less wiggly now. :D I'm trying to make fairly quick progress on this one.

@@CooperViolins Yeah, the cleats combined with a clamp or holdfast ought to be ideal for the initial heavy work. In related news, I've ordered a full set of tone wood for my first violin build, and it should arrive here on Friday! 😁 I've made an online acquaintance with a really cool guy that's a recent graduate of the Chicago School of Violinmaking. He's been giving me lots of good pointers and encouragement. On his advice, I ordered a set of European spruce and maple. He said that in his experience, their American counterparts are more difficult to work with for someone that's just starting out. Apparently they're more resistant to smooth planing and gouging, and like to tear out more. He recommended me a supplier in Slovakia, and their selection looks amazing. I'll probably use them on better future builds. Instead I went with International Violin for now. They're out of Baltimore, so shipping to Texas won't take nearly as long, and I don't have to fuss with customs or VAT taxes. When I placed the order with IV, in the comments I mentioned, "Wish me luck on my first build!" Also ordered two sets of purfling, because I want one to practice with. Put in the order late in the afternoon. So then the next morning, a rep from IV actually calls me, asking if maybe I want to use fiber purfling instead of wood for my first build. It's apparently much easier to bend and work with. I mentioned that I've already dipped my toes into bending wood with my citole project, so I have at least *some* experience. Not much, but some, at least! And besides, I want to learn how to do it properly from the outset, which is why I ordered an extra set for practice. I want to practice doing some corners to get comfortable with the process before I attempt it on the actual front and back plates. He agreed that was a good idea, and I asked if they maybe have any scrap pieces of wood that they're just going to toss anyway, could they just include some in my box instead? He said he'd look for some, and that he personally picked out a nice looking set of wood for me already. I really appreciated the thoughtfulness and willingness to help a newbie like myself. I haven't got the wood yet of course, but thus far, I think it's safe to say they've earned my business going forward. Can I ask if you have any preferred suppliers, or that matter, any I should avoid? Thanks!

IV is good, I've ordered from them, some spruce and purfling and I forget what else. This is only my second build, not counting the one in 1985, and I got the wood in exchange for making a walking cane for someone on MN. Although I did have to buy a new spruce set since I messed up the first one, mistakenly planed it down to 12mm. oops! :D If I build again, and I would like to, I may try some Slovakian. I'm in some violin facebook groups and you often see advertisements there for tonewood. I used wood purfling and didn't have any difficulty bending it. Got that from IV. I'm getting close to purfling but need to do some more shaping on the plate first. I only have some limited time in the afternoons and week ends to work but I'm trying to make rapid progress. I know you're excited to get the wood delivered and I'm looking forward to seeing your progress on the build. I had the morning off today, so I started refurbishing an old thickness caliper that I made from a kit in 1985. Striping the old ugly finish off and making some new parts with brass.

Thank you, I'm glad you like it. I'm trying to show the entire build process. Hopefully viewers will find it interesting. Good luck with your bench and future wood working! I enjoy all kinds of music. I'm ok at building but not very good at playing. Maybe by the end of this build I can practice enough to play something on it.

Thanks!

Thank you for the comment, you're right, not many comments so far but that's ok. I'm having fun making videos.

It's a charcoal drawing stick from Hobby Lobby, any arts store would have it. In another video you'll seem me using a pencil type marker to make topographic lines or whatever you call it. At first I used a number2 pencil but the lead is too hard so I changed to a soft lead drawing pencil also from Hobby Lobby. I haven't posted that video yet, I'll try to get that done sometime tonight.

It can be, especially if you try to take too big a chunk out all at once!

Thanks! Yeah I'm working on the back plate now, it's tricky getting the cross arches right, especially in the lower bout, it's so wide and flatish.

LOL, yeah I've been meaning to make a better cradle for a while but maybe I can fix this one. Did you see the comment on the other video? I had comments turned off temporarily. I saw you working on the ribs. Looks good so far!

@@CooperViolins Working on ribs? Which video are we talking about? Because I haven’t even bought the wood for my first violin build yet.

@@BrianTimmonsTX Oh I'm sorry, I was following another builder also and he was just starting ribs. I'm old and get confused. His channel is called Mike Atkins. Have you seen the website Maestronet . com ? Check it out, it's a violin forum and I posted lots of pictures from my last build before I started making videos.

@@CooperViolins Ah. I’ve been following Mike’s. Build, also. Yes, I’m on the MaestroNet forum, but just lurking for now. That’s actually how I found your channel to begin with.

Thanks!

You're right it was a bit loose. I checked the plate on a flat surface and it is flat so then I planed the surface of my plate holder and it's much less wobbly now. The plate holder had warped just a little since I made it a few years ago. The pins are not ideal, originally I made a copy of the cradle that is in the Stradivari museum in Cremona. But for sure Davide Sora's cradle is much better. I have watched all of his videos several times and that's basically how I learned to build, so I try to emulate a lot of his technique. I'm thinking of making some cleats like his and attach them to this cradle vs. making a whole new cradle. I need to figure out how to handle comments on my videos. I had a nasty one that I deleted and now they are all on hold until I approve them.

@@CooperViolinsYeah, that’s weird about the comments. I got the notification that you commented on my own video, but not that you replied here.

yes that's right, cheap Chinese planes. With some work they can be made usable. For more detailed work I have some good quality Ibex finger planes. They are a little pricey but worth it. For the Ibex planes I have both regular and toothed blades. I also made a toothed blade for my small block plane, you'll see that in the rib thinning video.

Thanks for the comments! Yes it could be lighting, I have an overhead florescent light and a small desk lamp. I'm using an iphone to record and could probably use a better camera. This is my second build. My goal is to video the entire process from start to finish. Hopefully it will be helpful for others are at least entertaining. :)

@@CooperViolins I'm in the middle of building a medieval citole, and will post a video once it's done. I'm shooting it on an iPhone as well. Over the course of the build I noted something interesting about most good violinmaking videos, that they usually work in a darker room with a lamp providing direct, raking light from the side. Not only does this actually look much better on camera, it makes shadows from irregular surfaces that much more obvious. So it's kinda like cheat codes for finer work during carving and finishing prep. The slightest blemish really stands out. I grabbed an adjustable lamp and fixed it to my workbench, put in a 40 watt soft white bulb, and turned off my overhead fluorescents. Plenty of lighting for what I'm doing, and on camera it makes the details pop, with good contrast, and the wood tones are much more warm on screen.

@@BrianTimmonsTX I'll watch your video when you post it! The overhead light works ok for rough work but for detail I'll use low angle light. I already made a video like that but haven't posted it yet. I'll post that one in a day or so.

@@BrianTimmonsTX I subscribed to your channel. looking foward to seeing the citole!

@@CooperViolins Cool, thanks!

It works well, except one of the wedges came unglued but it worked ok.

@@CooperViolins Well I think it can work...or I hope at least. I've used it for so many things and it seems pretty strong.

Grazie thank you!

Thank you

yes I love the pattern of curly maple. What exactly is a scepter? What size and shape would it be? It's not easy to find curly maple in large sizes.

@@CooperViolins here this will show you what the scepter is ruclips.net/video/y5fLwACIqC0/видео.html