Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Dominic, most, if not all, of The Strad posters have enough information to make moulds and templates. Roy Courtnall sells a plan for what is probably a generic Stradivari, ( I think it is based on what is used for Newark students), but if you want to build an instrument based on an actual Stradivari...

I second Martin's recommendation. I have the Johnson Courtnall book, and it's widely regarded as the best available. Have a look at Michael Darnton's website. He is a U.S. maker who is working on a book at the moment, and if I remember correctly, a fair bit of his material is on his website. He has ...

Island Specialty Timbers in Geeveston, south of Hobart is part of Forestry Tasmania, and they supply instrument quality wood. If I remember correctly, their advertisement in the last issue of Australian Wood Review (the back cover), featured a lovely blackwood uke by Jeremy Fullerton, one that I thi...

AN AUSSIE POEM The sun was hot already - it was only 8 o'clock The cocky took off in his Ute, to go and check his stock. He drove around the paddocks checking wethers, ewes and lambs, The float valves in the water troughs, the windmills on the dams He stopped and turned a windmill on to fill a water...

Martin, I find your preference for walnut oil very interesting.I have often wondered why olive oil is so commonly, and successfully, used in French polishing, rather than walnut oil. Olive oil is, I believe, not a siccative (i.e. drying) oil, whereas walnut oil is, as long as there are no additives ...

I have always used scales capable of weighing to 0.1 gramme. It gives a very accurate measure for small quantities. For example, I use a small disposable plastic cup, weigh it, say 4 grammes, add 10 grammes resin and 2 grammes hardener and if it all now weighs 16 grammes, I'm spot on.

I think Nick should consider hanging some of those under his vibes.

East Indian Rosewood?

Likewise if he visits Tasmania.

This is a very useful programme for generating curtate cycloids. It's called CCycloid, and is designed for stringed instrument makers. It will also generate catenary curves, which some makers argue is the basis for the internal shape, whilst the cycloid is the basis for the external shape. http://ww...

Double sided sticky tape will probably work. At least sufficiently to keep the Teflon in place.

Markus, you have put a lot of thought and effort into doing this, and I, for one, really appreciate it. I haven't had the chance to fully absorb it yet, but that is something I am looking forward to, with pleasurable anticipation, for tonight.

Alastair, the one you listed as #120 is, I believe the 4F grade, but confirm it with them. I don't know how it compares to the Behlen pumice from Lee Valley that Martin is suggesting, which I'm sure is very good. Behlen products are certainly reliable, but the stuff I got from Shell-Lap worked well....

When I lived in Adelaide, a few years back, I bought 4F pumice from Shell-Lap. They supply a whole lot of stuff, including a range of abrasive and polishing powders, for lapidary and optical lens polishing applications. They sell on-line, at http://www.shell-lap.com.au

Thanks Markus for doing this. Since, as you have demonstrated, silking and runout can cohabit the same piece of wood, we clearly cannot take the presence of silking to indicate the absence of runout. I wonder if Rudy Fuchs is aware of what the English version of his website is saying? This is a very...

Same here Bob. It would be interesting to know if what he says is true. He certainly has a good reputation as a tonewood supplier, so I imagine there is some foundation for his statement. I can't remember having seen a guitar with both pronounced silk and the harlequin look; if there's only one it w...

I was just having a look at Rudolf Fuchs website ( http://www.germanspruce.com ) where he says that " a nice cross silk pattern reveals that the wood has been accurately split (no run out) and quarter sawn. Is pronounced silking generally regarded as a reliable indicator of little or no runout?

The dimensions of the tailpiece are given on the Benedetto plan. The thickness is 5/16" (very close to 8mm), and the fulcrum extends 3/16" , so the overall thickness is 1/2'' measured at the fulcrum. As Rod says, the fulcrum is a separate piece inlayed into a shallow trench.

It's very true what you say about the hygroscopic nature of meths, Kim. When I last bought it, I got a 4 litre can of the 100% stuff, and also 8 500ml empty cans, with proper seals, from the paint shop (Taspaints for those who live in Hobart). I put the heater on in my small workshop and got the RH ...

I get my 100% meths from the local paint shop in Hobart. It's more expensive than the 95% hardware store stuff, as you'd expect, but readily available.

This is a new, free, web based journal which aims to publish serious peer reviewed articles relating to musical instrument science and technology. I learned of it from The Strad http://www.thestrad.com/Article.asp?ArticleID=1932 and I have seen since that R.M. Mottola has posted a reference to it on...

I may be misunderstanding the problem, but it is not the back (i.e the face that will form the interior of the violin)that you should be worrying about at this stage, unless it is warped. If it is warped, you only need to plane off enough so that it sits on a flat surface without rocking. Flatten th...

Stu, if I remember correctly, you're in Melbourne, so it might be worth visiting Alex Grant's shop in Collingwood. He's on Smith Street near the intersection with Gertrude Street. He is a highly regarded maker/restorer/dealer, and I'm sure he'd be willing to offer some help. I have a number of Strad...

I had a look at the Strad site, and the posters are listed in the Strad Library http://www.orpheusmusicshop.com
They cost 14.95 pounds each.

Ed Heron-Allen is a great read, but absolutely not a bible for violinmakers. I don't think anyone whose opinion you might value, would recommend using the plans from the book ("Violin Making as it was and is", published 1885) . Much better to get one of the Strad magazine posters, most of which have...