I've embarked on a new adventure: Mould-less violin making. Most instruments are built around a form, or mould, which helps to accurately re-create the outline of a model you might be copying, or achieve something approaching predictable symmetry in the instrument design of your choice. My usual process, too, would involve using a drawing as a starting point to make some templates, from which I would make a mould. This time, I decided to skip the mould making and build the ribs directly on to the backs of the instruments.
Even though I pride myself somewhat on my rib bending skills, I found out immediately that the wood has ideas of its own. Newsflash: The wood won! A day after I had lovingly bent my ribs hewing closely to the pre-drawn lines, and glued them to the blocks, I came into the studio to find the outline magically changed.
The challenge now is to come up with an instrument which follows classical lines and looks harmonious, if not exactly as I planned ... Watch this space!
Even though I pride myself somewhat on my rib bending skills, I found out immediately that the wood has ideas of its own. Newsflash: The wood won! A day after I had lovingly bent my ribs hewing closely to the pre-drawn lines, and glued them to the blocks, I came into the studio to find the outline magically changed.
The challenge now is to come up with an instrument which follows classical lines and looks harmonious, if not exactly as I planned ... Watch this space!
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