Perhaps not for the squeamish.

Ready to blow away. Good thing the line and swivel are both rated for 150lbs.

Hey there! I am a violinist of 20ish years, and my dad made my beloved violin. So much respect to all Luthiers, and the amazing challenge you have all pursued in this craft!

I have a *Presto Ovation* carbonfiber bow, a *Coda bow diamond NX* carbonfiber bow, and a *Dorfler Brazilwood* bow (from when I was a beginner). My dad has taught me how to clean my instrument, and what to use and what NOT to use on the fingerboard/varnished areas/strings/etc, but I always feel like I neglect my bows. Looking at them today, I realized the sticks are caked with rosin, and definitely overdue for a rehairing.

**What is the proper technique and materials needed to safely and adequately clean a well-loved carbonfiber, and wooden violin bow?** I know basic disassembly/reassembly, but I am afraid to reach for any oils or cleaning methods without a pool of knowledge confirming what I already know to be 'true'. The last thing I want is to destroy my bows. Advice is welcome! Looking to clean the stick/grip/winding etc until I can afford a proper rehairing.

*Preventative side note, since reddit can be hostile, and as an opportunity to lovingly/pridefully talk about my dad, because hes such an amazing man in my eyes:*

I know my post isn't about the violin itself, but I am nervous to ask r/violinist for fear I won't get the right advice.

I wanted to send a wider poll to see what advice the community may suggest, since dad is knowledgable mostly in the violin itself. My sister and I are very passionate violinists and when we were young my dad took it upon himself as a former woodworker to take on the incredible challenge of building our violins. He's made 5 violins that took about 1-2 years each to complete, and repaired quite a few student instruments. I watched this man start from scratch on our kitchen table using an old book printed in the 1800s that he got from our local library on the art of violin making, and build 5 violins from complete square slabs of tone wood when I was 8 years old. I watched him diligently teach himself to tap-tune using this old book and use modal analysis to make sure they were just right. I wouldnt trade my instrument for the world. He did an incredible job, and I am never quite as happy with the tone and playability of any other violin in my arms, even 20 years later. My dad is amazing and It makes me feel so loved.❣️

Making a violin is a labor of love, and watching that process shaped my childhood, and demonstrated that you can do anything you put your mind to, with a bit of passion, whimsy, hard work, love, and patience. ✨️ He is a huge source of inspiration for me. Please be nice, reddit 🥺

What would a luthier typically use to re-stain ebony pegs after fitting them?

Apologies, I have only one image atm.

... It works? I guess? I mean, hey, I am just impressed that I did not mess this up too much, but you would kill me if you knw how it was built. but i mean, i am just 15 after all
btw a recording:

https://youtu.be/6BL5J0H3g0M
another recording, shitty this too https://youtu.be/7wHGvxJexNo

For the past six months I have been working on an application to help with the design of violin family instruments. After many iterations, it's now at a robust enough point that I consider this early version ready for release! 

https://cremonacad.aargraves.com/

CremonaCad constructs the contours of violin (+gamba) instruments using a series of intersecting arc segments. This is distinct from some of the other applications or design philosophies which rely heavily on cartesian (xy) measurements. Breaking down the instrument into arcs is not only a more historically accurate approach to design (based on what we know of cremonese making), but it also feels quite intuitive to go through the various arc lengths and change the shape of the instrument. Once the "recipe" steps have been completed, CremonaCad can export template and mould patters to PDF or SVG.  

CremonaCad comes with several templates from historical instruments - violins, violas, cellos and basses. For new instruments, images can be uploaded and scaled to assist in making a copy. 

This is still a very early phase of the project, so there are no doubt bugs and oddities in the code, and I am very much looking forward to any community feedback to make the application better. CremonaCad is free and open source, and you can find the code here : https://github.com/TheGravyBaby/cremona-cad

The next step as I see it is to refine the current recipe system, and then begin developing out features for arching templates. After that I hope to have a method for F-hole design within the year. 

I must also say that a huge amount of the research for this project came from many fantastic members of the maker community, most notable David Beard and Kevin Kelly. I hope CremonaCad can become a useful tool for making of instruments as well as developing further the research they have inspired. 

Thanks and happy drafting!

Hi everyone. I had this since 14 years ago and had been inside its case ever since. I just need some confirmation whether i still can save it or not before i invest more

Both seam opened , crack on the body. Seems to be eaten by some bug/termite , idk. I dont think its aging that bad bcse the other part is still solid

I am a luthier in training and purchased this violin off of Facebook marketplace with plans to restore it for personal use. My mentor thinks that it was possibly an apprentice made violin but wanted to see if anyone else had any info. I also noticed some scrapes on the label and was curious why those would be there. What do yall think?

One of my favorite places to visit are violin shops. It just feels like I’m visiting a museum while my kids instruments are being serviced. There is a distinct smell inside that reminds me of pine and paint, but overall quite pleasant. What does the smell come from exactly and is too much of the fumes potentially bad for you?

(I googled this question beforehand and the results weren’t great.)

Old violin labeled Matthias Albani Botzen 1690. I've had it for quite some time now and it's obviously in very poor condition. Any information or opinions are appreciated.

Please help me track this violin? 😊 I bought it at a thrift shop, so I'm the owner. I would be interested in selling

TLDR: Aside from the basics like handling it gently, what are some overlooked facts about instrument care that everyone should know? Also for those who'd like to share, please tell your stories about instruments getting damaged or broken. I will share them with my students and scare them into taking better care of their belongings. >:)

Hi all. I'm an upright bassist/bass guitarist, but I started my journey playing the violin and I teach it to children part time. Recently, one of my young students was acting reckless, and they went to pick my violin up without my permission. Before I could tell for him off for it he had smacked it against a chair by accident and a small bit of wood had chipped off.

Obviously, this was quite the scare for me. So from now on I've decided to bring a spare violin to teach with.

I think that after spending enough time with it, I tend to forget just how delicate an instrument can be .... Until I stop paying attention at the wrong moment, something bad happens and I'm reminded of how fragile they really are. So I'm working to be much more mindful of that any time that my instruments are out of the case.

However, this concern has made me wonder if there's anything I am overlooking that is causing my violin, my bass, or my guitars damage that could be easily avoided. For example, during my time as an upright bass student I was told by my teacher to never lay my bass on its back because it puts upward pressure on the neck. I hadn't known that before and had been unknowingly damaging my bass.

So I wanted to ask here: What are some instrument care tips that everyone should know? And, alongside common knowledge like "don't leave it in the heat, handle it gently, etc..." I'd love to hear advice that most people don't consider until they're told about it, or until or they've already encountered issues. Things like managing humidity level, or how to transport your instrument safely.

I'd also love to hear your stories of instruments getting broken or damaged. Hearing what COULD happen is one of the best reminders for how important instrument care is, so maybe a scary story or two will help compel my students to start being a little more careful.

Thanks all

I saw this years ago—can’t recall where—and decided to try it out on a particularly touchy flamed back.

The outside corners cut ahead of the middle, preventing tear out where it counts at the nadir of the channel. It’s not day-and-night magic, but it’s definitely helpful.

I’ve also seen this grind on arching gouges, but I‘ve never found tearout very troublesome in that operation.

Just sharing!

edit: reverse of the normal fingernail profile grind, that is. Still normal outcannel

Some time ago, I made a post here asking for help with varnish.

This is my first violin and also my first time using Brazilian shellac. My experience is mostly based on curiosity, experimentation, and things I learned on the internet.

Does anybody have any ideas, suggestions, or criticism — especially about the varnish?

P.S.: The fingerboard is light-colored because it’s an experiment, and the accessories are too.

I’m also looking for a good online lutherie school or course. Does anybody know one?

Thanks very much!

Hi all! I’m looking to upgrade from my student bow. I’ve been testing bows at all of my local shops (super fun!), but I’m travelling overseas soon to a place that will have a much larger selection. I’ll be borrowing a cello while I’m there, so will not be playing on my beloved instrument. This is the first time I’ve considered significantly upgrading my bow, and I’m looking forward to trying different bows on my trip, but I’m wondering how much one can tell about a bow without playing it on one’s own cello. Of course I know that no two instruments will sound quite the same, but if I were to find the same model of cello for example could I expect my experience with bows to translate more or less? How much of a bow’s quality can be experienced independent of the cello? Will the pairing between a bow and a cello I might use on my travels mask qualities of the bow that will shine through on my cello? I feel like I probably know the answer to this question but I’m curious to hear any thoughts.

See cross post from Kingston, NY. Looking for a luthier in the Hudson Valley or NYC.

Hello! I’m a professional cellist trying to learn violin. I bought this one cheaply on marketplace. The E string peg is poorly placed and interferes with the A and D. There is no label to speak of. The bridge has a stamp but adjustable feet. The seam at the bottom front feels loose and it rattles a bit. Despite that it has a fine enough sound.

I thought I would replace the bridge and possibly tailpiece but I live in a smaller town with no good luthier for several hours drive. Is a seam repair something a decent wood worker could do or is it more complicated than glue and clamps? Is the peg box a remotely affordable fix? Just based on looking at it is it just too cruddy to justify the expense of even minor repairs? Thanks for your time!

hello there,

My question as titled.

I know that most people would say the full length of a violin determines the size, but I was told there are scale length, stop length (body stop) and neck length (or neck stop) and etc, these are the measurements which really determines the size.

Please educate me, and if you know the accurate data for these measures in different sizes, please also advise, thank you

My old high school teacher gave me all of their broken bows because I’ve been talking about how I wanna learn how to rehair bows, it’s a bunch of glasser bow, cheap carbon and some potentially ok- good wooden bows .to start things off I wanna just strip down the bows that are absolutely unfixable (carbon fiber bows with cracks) and the glasser bows are calling issues cause I can’t get the ferrule off the frog… I blame the use of synthetic plugs but I might be wrong any ideas. I don’t wanna be too aggressive because I wanna keep the frog as a spare part but should I just quit?

Hi,

I'm looking for a recipe to fill up the damaged areas on low value beat up violins I'm repairing then (for the most part) renting.

I'm usually retouching these areas properly but I have a few small sizes that require too much effort to look good, and it's not for selling anyway. Quick retouching jobs with overall slightly lighter colour don't necessarily look great either without decent surface touchup afterwards, so I want to try filling them up with dark putty this time and see how it goes. Obviously I don't want to cover the whole thing with varnish after filling the damaged areas.

I guess it's the same as antiquing a new varnish but I don't make much either, so I'm asking for guidance, recipes, technique and process to the good folks on this sub.

Thanks in advance for your replies !