# Wanna Make a Violin?



## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

I ran across this eBay listing, and it just struck me as funny. I know nothing about making violins, but I find it hard to believe you would have much use for one of these.


----------



## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

I always wanted a violin-making-plane. for what it's worth - it COULD be used to smoothout some parts, but definitely not a 'violin' specific tool

More importantly though - you need to join an EA (eBay Anonymous) group and stop browsing eBay for planes!


----------



## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

You nailed me, Sharon…. my addiction is showing. 

I just have a funny mental image of an old world craftsman in his cluttered little shop trying to put the finishing touches on his delicate masterpiece with a #4 smoother. Sort of like using an eight pound maul to drive a 5/8 brad.


----------



## Chipncut (Aug 18, 2006)

*It doesn't look like there's anything special about it!*


----------



## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

what do you mean? isn't that the preferred tool for driving brads? I guess I have more research to do


----------



## GMman (Apr 11, 2008)




----------



## GMman (Apr 11, 2008)

Give it try Charlie.


----------



## cajunpen (Apr 9, 2007)

Where is the "on/off" switch?


----------



## amagineer (Apr 16, 2011)

I noticed the people selling it are from China and sell musical instruments. I can just imagine some American carpenter who went to China with the peace corps and lost his Stanley plane and some poor Chinese guy found it and doesn't know what it is and uses it as a weight when gluing his violin together. The son sees it and tells him he can sell it on ebay and make enough money to buy a cow to feed the whole family. That's what I think happened.


----------



## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

I've never made a violin nor have I ever met anyone else who has made a violin. However, for some reason I have it in my mind that they are very picky and fuzzy people when it comes to the quality of their work and the quality of their tools. I just can't imagine one of them having that plane in their shop.


----------



## Ole (Dec 23, 2009)

I'm sorry, but this is obviously one of Stanley's very rare violinmaking planes. At a bargain price, too!


----------



## Porchfish (Jun 20, 2011)

A flat smoothing plane for violin making ? don't think so !


----------



## racerglen (Oct 15, 2010)

Watch the bids..
It could hit 6 figures if it's REALY rare…

;-}


----------



## StumpyNubs (Sep 25, 2010)

90 bucks for a repainted Stanley #4? I'm getting out the credit card as we speak!


----------



## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

I don't even think it's a Stanley. The description says brand new, and from the side the lever cap looks very rough. I suspect it is a cheap Chinese knockoff.


----------



## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

It amazes me how anyone who has never made a violin can comment on the usefullness of this tool.

First, the body of a violin starts with two tapered planks of wood glued together down the center. These must be shaped on the ends to begin forming the top and bottom plates. There is no better tool to do this than the aforementioned plane. Once the rough shape is attained, a series of smaller finger planes and scrapers are utilized to do the finer work.

Second, if you note that the seller of the plane is focused on materiel for string instrument making, it is perfectly normal to market this plane to his intended users even though the more common use of this tool has nothing to do with violin making.


----------



## Roger Clark aka Rex (Dec 30, 2008)

Just what you'd expect, Chinese Fiddlers. The giveaway is the brand name "STAMLEY" .


----------



## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

C'mon DS251…. have a sense of humor.

Obviously, a #4 sized plane can be used in the process of making pretty much anything made of wood. But to advertise it as a violin making tool is at best a funny contrivance of language by a non-English speaker.

At worst, the post is somewhat dishonest, because I'm 99% sure that plane is not a Stanley, even though it is evidently meant to look like one.

EDIT: I just took a closer look at DS251's profile. Obviously this person signed up just to respond to this post.


----------



## remdds (Mar 19, 2011)

I know a guy who made a couple violins. They were amazing. Way to complicated for me!


----------



## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

Charlie,

Where I come from they are called fiddles…..does a violin sound the same as a fiddle? Depends on who's on the other end of the bow, and if he's holding the frog right…...I can't play one, but I sure can "screech" one.


----------



## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

Sure, I have a sense of humor. In fact I'll be the first to say this plane is a rip off. I see it all the time on sites selling "specialized" tools.

Myself, I use a small block plane (Yes, it is a Stanley!) and a Pfiel 25mm wide sweep #3 gouge to carve my violin Tops and Back plates. (You have to LOVE Swiss Steel!)

What do you use?

(And yes, I made that violin in my profile pic)


----------



## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Looks like a brand new Stan-foo to me ;-)) That would be made in Stanley's image to fool the naive!


----------



## Maverick44spec (Aug 7, 2011)

Anyone want to buy a rare Stanley violin maker's sledge hammer? Only $200.00 

ROFLMAO!


----------



## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

DS251: Building an acoustic guitar is on my "bucket list", so I hope you post some of your instruments in the project section and stick around to share your expertise with us.

I'm sorry if you felt my post was out of line. I was just browsing planes on eBay, and this listing struck me as humorous enough to share with my friends here.


----------



## majeagle1 (Oct 29, 2008)

I echo Charlie re: DS251 - hope you stick around and share some of your violins with us and maybe other projects. BTW - from what I can see in your avatar, our violin looks very nice ….. would like to see some closeups.

I think you might even enjoy it here on LJ's…. !!!!


----------



## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

CharlieM: Making a violin was on my bucket list as well.

At first I didn't have a clue, but found a book called "Violin Making for Amateurs" at my local Rocklers. And I ended up with an "amateur" grade violin! (How's that for irony?) It doesn't sound very good but it looks real pretty hanging on the wall in my living room.

Then I invested some money in some high-grade hand tools, imported the right woods and found several reference books for professional violin making, including a book called "Useful Measurements for Violin Makers" and made a masterpiece.

I consider instrument making to be at the pinnacle of hand tool craftsmanship. I know it has stretched my capabilities far beyond anywhere industrial woodworking has taken me.

Best of luck on the guitar!


----------



## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

I'm not sure if I posted this image correctly… but here goes.


----------



## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

It certainly looks beautiful from here.


----------



## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

Here's some pics of a recent project in progress…









Here is the violins "garland" receiving its willow lining strips.
I'll bet you never considered a clothespin and a rubber band as a violin clamp!!! hahah!









Here is the roughed top plate before final scraping.









Close up of the partially finished neck









Wood bending is one of the things violins and guitars have in common. Here is newly bent garland before linings and removal from the form.


----------



## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

An assembled instrument "in white".

The violin is assembled "in white" and played for the first time prior to finishing.

This is when you get to find out if your months of tedius work have done any good.
It is also the last opportunity to make any adjustments before the instrument is finished.


----------



## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

Great set of photos. Thanks!


----------



## DrDirt (Feb 26, 2008)

DS251 That's really cool - I always thought the fronts and backs were 'formed' from 2 steam bent pieces and edge glued rather than roughed/carved to shape like the photo of the top.
Is it only the top that is one carved piece? I can see the joint on the back, but I know that the backs are usually the nicely figured woods. Is the top spruce?
Dave


----------



## majeagle1 (Oct 29, 2008)

Wow, very impressive DS251…... alot of talent and research went into this it looks like…..

Once this one is complete, will you post as a project with "LOTS" of pics !!???

Thanks for the photo's in this thread and the details of some of the process…..


----------



## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

DrDirt: 
The top and back plate are very similar in construction. In this case, they are two peices glued together. This is very specifically due to the way the wood is harvested-It is a special cut just for violins. The two halves are wedges that grew front-to-back to each other in the log. They arrive still connected at an outside corner which gets cut off. This ensures they are "grain matched" and complimentary. I have a picture somewhere of all the rough peices laid out on a table. You can get a one-peice front or back, but I prefer the two peice violin.
Yes, the top is european spruce. I've been playing around with sitka spruce lately as the price of euro spruce has about doubled in the last couple years. (~$90/bf for a decent grade)

P.S. Once the outside face has its final shape, the inside is carved out and graduated to very exacting thicknesses.

majeagle1: This violin was finished about a year ago. I have some pics of it somewhere. I'll post when I find them.


----------



## Maverick44spec (Aug 7, 2011)

Wow DS251, that violin is amazing. How long does it usually take you to make one?


----------



## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

I once estimated that if I worked on it everyday, it would take about two months, start to finish, to make one-and that to make a dozen of them would take about eight weeks!

There are over 100 peices in a violin and there is a lot of "glue time" where there is nothing to do but wait.

Unfortunately, real life gets in my way sometimes and I'm not able to work on it everyday. My first one took about 4 months. The last one I spent about 2 years to finish. (It was worth the wait) My current project is one year running so far.

Somewhere, someone is gonna say they can do one a week… but it becomes a quality vs. quantity equation at some point.

I do it because I enjoy doing the work. It helps me relax. There's no hurry to get it done. The end result is a really nice bonus.


----------



## Maverick44spec (Aug 7, 2011)

*Somewhere, someone is gonna say they can do one a week… but it becomes a quality vs. quantity equation at some point.*

I'm guessing your's is really high quality.

Thanks for sharing you amazing talent. I hope that you decide to stick around and teach us a thing or two.


----------



## Tootles (Jul 21, 2011)

I'm guessing that the people selling the plane on e-bay are possibly selling a few violins made in a week. Your point is well made. Your workmanship is excellent.

Welcome to LJs.


----------



## cellophane (Jul 14, 2011)

Great pictures!

I'm working on a guitar right now in a class and it is a great experience. And there is plenty of opportunities to plane - just not with a #4 (or is that a 1, 2 or 3?) We use these guys all the time. GREAT tools for braces and fine detail planing.


----------



## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

cellophane: Those are cool looking finger planes. All the ones I've seen are brass.
I only get to use a large plane when first starting to rough the top and back from raw lumber. There is a good chunk of material to remove at first. I tried using a handsaw for this once…that was fun. The block plane was far easier.

Where are you taking your guitar building class? That sounds very interesting.
Charlie suggested this is on his bucket list. No time like the present, eh, Charlie?


----------



## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

Actually, I just don't know that I'm up to the task. 

I suppose the best way is probably to take a similar route as you.. Just go ahead and build one (won't be great), learn from my mistakes, and then build another one right.


----------



## DS (Oct 10, 2011)

The website cellophane linked to with the finger planes also sells a dvd on how to make a guitar… 
I don't know how good it is, but it could be a start I suppose.


----------



## DrDirt (Feb 26, 2008)

The show I saw on NBC was for KC Strings in Kansas City. They one of the largest string instrument conpanies in teh US.
Below is a You tube show having all the commercials taken out that is a walkthrough of the process making a cello, but they make violin, viola, cello and base there.


----------



## GaryK (Jun 25, 2007)

Here's a little plane that I used to make my violin.










It's maybe 1 1/2" long.


----------

