New Commissioned Five String Fiddle On the Way!

New Commission!

Unusual Woods

A customer ordered a new, custom-made Five String Fiddle, and it is on the way! He chose heavily spalted, heavily-flamed, Oregon Big Leaf Maple for the back plate, the sides, the neck and scroll. My wife’s parents gave me the wood from this maple tree.

Ann used to play under and climb on this tree as a child, and we hated to see the tree cut down. Her parents still live there, less than four miles from our house, but they had to remove the tree because it was dying. I have salvaged wood for a few instruments from that tree and they all look and sound wonderful!

Given a choice between Spruce and Douglas Fir, the customer chose the Douglas Fir, for his front plate. This tree was also cut a just few miles from my home. (A famous violin and viola maker, Otto Erdescz (1917-2000) used to make violins and violas with Douglas Fir soundboards. Some of them are still being played professionally, today. But very few luthiers use Douglas Fir. I didn’t either, until a few years ago!)

Not my usuaI Choice in times past

For many years, I refused to try such a thing. But a friend gave me a load of very straight grained Douglas Fir firewood, a few years ago. As I was splitting it, I heard the split-off piece hit the ground, and it rang like a bell! I had never seen such straight-grained, clear Douglas Fir, with zero runout!

Unfortunately, that particular piece was too short for a fiddle. I had to search through the pile for a piece that was long enouigh for a violin plate.

Since then, I have made several such instruments, and they all sound great. (I find that the Spruce is definitely easier to work with, though, and, for classical, orchestral instruments, I still use only European maple and spruce.)

Customer Preferences:

This man showed up at my shop and he played all the five string instruments I had. (He really had not been used to 5-string instruments before, and he laughed for joy, hearing the rich deep C-string on each one. After a short while, he declared, “OK, I’m addicted!”) He played the full range of all of them, and finally settled on my earliest unsold 5-string (#3 on the “Chronology” page) as being exactly what he wanted.

But not to buy that instrument. No! He wanted a commissioned instrument “just like that one!” He had thought things over, and he wanted one that was built especially for him! (Sure! We can do that!)

And, as it turned out, that was a good thing: A week later, the next customer who came to try out all my instruments also loved that fiddle, but she bought it that day, and drove away! So it is gone!

Which Mold?

I knew which of my molds was the source of that fiddle: I have made at least four off of that specific mold. All of them have sold, now, so, for the moment, there are none available. (This instrument will “solve that problem” momentarily, but it will be gone immediately after completion.)

The commissioning customer also wanted local wood, so that he could say, “My violin was made from a tree on that hill!” So…choosing the wood was the first step.

Choosing the Wood

The model I would use had already been chosen, so that was not an issue. I also knew what the wood source would be: I still have a little of the maple my wife’s parents had given me. And, with the customer’s approval, I chose a clear piece of Douglas Fir, salvaged from the firtewood I mentioned earlier. He loved both pieces.

Maple and spruce for five string bluegrass fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop, Luthier — “Fiddle in the rough!”

Here is a closer picture of the maple:

Heavily Spalted and Heavily Flamed Maple for five string bluegrass fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop, luthier. — Heavily Spalted and Heavily Flamed Maple

I book-matched the spruce, by cutting a single billet in two equal halves and gluing them together to make the front plate.

Douglas Fir for five String bluegrass fiddle, handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop, Luthier. — Douglas Fir, cut and ready to joint and glue the Center seam

I laid out the neck outline on the billet I had chosen for the neck, and I drilled the pilot holes for the tuning pegs. Then I cut out the side profile on a bandsaw.

scroll billet for new five string bluegrass fiddle, handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop, Luthier. — Scroll profile cut out, and pilot holes drilled.

Mold Preparation

Meanwhile, I got the blocks glued into the mold. Then I traced their shapes from my template, so the whole job could begin. I also planed away the rough surfaces of the maple to ascertain that it actually would serve well as the back plate of a new five-string fiddle. And, I found that it was just a little too narrow in the lower bouts.

So, I “transplanted” a small piece of wood from the area above the upper bout on each side and grafted them in on the lower bouts. (This practice is not at all uncommon: It will be every bit as strong as the center seams on two-piece backs. And, once the double purfling is installed, the joints will be nearly invisible, under the varnish.)

wood for new five-string bluegrass fiddle, handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop, Luthier. — Back plate in progress, blocks in the mold, and the shapes traced from the template.

Preparing the Ribs

I had chosen wood for the ribs, as well, and I sawed them to a thickness of a little over 2 mm. I thinned them, using a wooden fixture I made, clamped to my oscillating spindle-sander. The fixture allows me to gradually reduce the thickness to 1 mm.

Here are the ribs:

Ribs for new five string bluegrass fiddle, handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop, Luthier. — Rib-stock, sawn and thinned: ready to be cut to size and bent.

Installing the Ribs

Next, I cut the ribs to the correct length and width. I carefully considered which grain from one side would “mirror” which grain on the other side. I had already been tinkering on the neck, as you can see in this photo, but I will explain that process later. (It isn’t always possible to do everything in a precise order. While I am waiting for glue to dry on one section, for example, I may jump ahead on another piece.) You can see the bookmatched front plate, too.

I cut all six ribs, and marked them as to inside, outside, upper and lower ends, etc, as well as which side of the fiddle they would call their home…treble or bass side.

Then I bent the ribs using a hot “bending iron” (actually made of aluminum, but, in the old days, they were iron.)

(I forgot to take photos of the shaped blocks: Sorry.)

I had cut and shaped the corner and end blocks, already, so I applied a generous coat of hot hide glue to one block at a time. then, I clamped the rib into the block surfaces, making certain that everything fit correctly before tightening the clamps.

First, I installed the center bout ribs, and when the glue had dried, I used the spindle-sander to trim the ends of those ribs to match the curvature of the outer faces of the corner block, so I could install the upper and lower ribs. Here are the upper ribs, glued and clamped:

ribs installed for a new 5-string bluegrass fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop, Luthier. — Center and Upper bout ribs installed, using hot hide glue and clamps.

The lower end of the bass-side center bout rib was not fully tight, so I reglued it and reclamped it. (left lower side of photo.)

Then, when that glue was dry, I installed the lower ribs, by turning the mold upside down in the vise, so I could see clearly. It also meant that both hands were free to adjust the rib position, and apply clamps.

All ribs installed on new 5-string bluegrass fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop, Luthier. — All the ribs are installed, but still need to be trimmed, before installing the linings.

Linings bent and installed

I also did not take photos of bending and installing the linings. (Sorry.) Here are two photos of the result, still in clamps.

Linings installed in new 5-string Bluegrass fiddle, handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop. Luthier. — Front view of linings clamped in place.

Garland with linings installed, for 5-string bluegrass fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop, Luthier. — Side view of lining clamps and rib garland.

Tracing the plates

Once the linings were installed and the ribs thus strengthened, I could trace the shape of the plates, and begin cutting things out.

Completed garland and billet for front plate for 5-string bluegrass fiddle, handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop, Luthier. — Garland and Front plate billet cut to shape.

New 5-string bluegrass fiddel in progress, handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop Luthier. — And, that is the progress, so far!

Thanks for looking! I will try to keep everyone posted as to progress.

August 24, 2021August 24, 2021

Further progress on two fiddles (8/24/21)

Slower Progress:

(I actually got a fair amount done, though…)

A few weeks ago, I bookmatched my plates and then cut ribs and necks, so as to set up “kits” for six new five-string fiddles. Then, I got started building two of them, as parallel builds.

Since I last posted, two weeks ago, I did not exactly stay on schedule, but I didn’t get too far behind.

Scroll Carving

I had completed the first scroll and neck, and had begun working on the second neck, when, I “kinda took an unplanned detour.”

carving pegbox for five string bluegrass fiddle handmade in Oregon my Chet Bishop, luthier. — Heavy wood removal from pegbox interior.

sawing out scroll on 5-string bluegrass fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop, luthier. — Beginning the saw-carving of the scroll

Saw-carving the scroll for a 5-string bluegrass fiddle, handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop. luthier. — Saw-carving the scroll.

scroll for 5-string bluegrass fiddle, handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop, luthier. — Scroll nearing completion

Then I Had a Small Mishap:

I had worked for 12 hours, Monday the 16th, and afterward, I was getting pretty tired. My hands were tired, brain was tired, too, I suppose…anyway:

I had begun carving the second scroll, completed the saw-carving part, and was removing waste wood with a small gouge, when, I slipped, annnnd, just happened to have my left hand in the path of the misdirected gouge. (sigh…)

Urgent Care? Emergency Room?

First we tried going to an Urgent Care clinic. We arrived there, and then discovered that (a) they only work by appointment, and (b) they don’t take medicare insurance, anyway. I asked what my options were, and they said, “Everything else is closed! Go to the ER!” (Sigh… very expensive option!)

So, about 30 minute later we arrived at the Emergency Room at St. Vincent Hospital. They were busy as usual, so we waited for about four hours. But after that, the ER people washed it out with sterile water, X-Rayed it to eliminate the possibility of torn bone or tendons, and applied two little “Steri-Strips!”

I guess that was normal, but it felt pretty “exposed,” and was very prone to bumps (which were pretty uncomfortable when they happened.) So, after we got home, Ann bandaged me up with a heavily padded dressing so that I could sleep without bumping it. That was a real help, and I slept well.

I kind of piddled around, the next day…partly too tired, I suppose, as we had arrived home somewhat after 3AM, and we got to bed after 4AM. Partly just not feeling real good. Anyway, I had other things that needed doing, so I didn’t work on fiddles for that day.

Red Violin beginning? This was the second scroll, in progress when I slipped.

Back to Work!

I got back to work on Wednesday. It turned out that I really needed two hands for most things, so it slowed me down rather badly, having a bulky bandage on the left paw. However, I was finally able to get the fingerboard installed on the first scroll/neck so that I could shape them as a unit.

Fingerboard installed for 5-string bluegrass fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop, luthier — Fingerboard installed the second day after the injury.

That was kind of encouraging, seeing some progress again.

neck and fingerboard with five-string fiddles by Chet Bishop, Luthier. — Neck #1 with the two completed front plates and garland assemblies.

back plate and neck assembly with dive string fiddles by Chet Bishop, Luthier. — I had also traced and cut out the back plate for fiddle #1. (Big Leaf Maple: Pretty stuff!)

Then I set the neck on fiddle #1:

cutting neck mortise in 5-string bluegrass fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop, Luthier — Beginning the neck mortise. Notice the hard, heavy winter reeds in the Douglas Fir front plate.

cutting the neck mortise on a 5-string bluegrass fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop. Luthier. — The cut-out in the front plate for the neck mortise.

completed neck mortise in 5-string bluegrass fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop, Luthier. — Completed neck mortise

neck set completed in 5-string bluegrass fiddle, handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop, Luthier. — Completed Neck-set. (Back of the neck heel will still have to be sawn off.)

Healing up!

After that, we had appointments with various people, so I didn’t get a lot done on Thursday or Friday. By the time the weekend had rolled around, I had the biggest bandages off, and was sporting a plain finger bandage, but I had to be pretty careful. Bumps were still pretty unpleasant.

So, after having removed the bulky bandage, I went back to work on fiddle #2, carving that “Red Violin” scroll into just a plain, “five-string fiddle scroll.” It looked as though the majority of the “gore” would simply be carved away: so, no “Red Violin!” (By the way, that little gouge, third from the right, is the one that perforated my thumb.)

scroll nearing completion for a 5-string bluegrass fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop. Luthier. — Second scroll nearing completion.

I will post more again, soon. Sorry for the hiatus: it wasn’t intentional. 🙂

Thanks for looking.

August 3, 2021August 10, 2021

Progress report: fiddles for Fall of 2021

Progress Report 8/3/21

Foundational Work For 5-string Fiddles

My last post showed the six “kits” I had built. The post included bookmatching the five-string fiddle plates, cutting the profiles of the Big Leaf Maple necks and scrolls, and cutting appropriate ribs to size. As a result, I ended up with six kits, including bass bar blanks all cut from the same billet of Englemann Spruce, and a big pile of linings ready to bend. ( I thought the linings were willow, but I now suspect may be poplar, instead.)

Five of these front plates ar Englemann Spruce, but one is Douglas Fir. I rarely find Douglas Fir that will work for tonewood, but a friend brought me a pickup-load of firewood, and I found some that sounds great. (As you can see, I am not a “snob” about where I get my wood. If I need special wood, I buy it, but I frequently use Oregon woods.)

(In case anyone reading this is not aware, I build all my instruments (except the fittings, as a rule) entirely from the raw materials. I make all my molds by hand, and all my templates by hand. I have even made many of my tools. So every instrument is genuinely “handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop.”) 🙂

materials laid out for 5-string fiddles to be made in Oregon by Chet Bishop — Four of the six assembled “kits.”

I set aside four of the six “kits,” just to get them out of the work area. Then I began work on the remaining two kits.

Fiddles in pieces, waiting to become 5-string fiddles handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — Two of the four kits in storage.

Beginning the Builds

The first step after shaping the blocks (last post) is to bend the ribs and linings. Then I can glue the ribs to the prepared blocks, using hot hide glue, and finally glue the linings to the ribs.

I rub a heavy coat of candle-wax (“paraffin” in the US) on the outer rims of my molds. This will prevent a “sneaky” drop of hide-glue from accidentally bonding the ribs to the molds instead of just to the blocks.

(A rib accidentally glued to the mold can be a disaster if I don’t realize my mistake in time. The glue is definitely stronger than the rib. It will destroy the rib, if I don’t catch it early enough to use hot water or steam to release it. But the wax coating pretty much eliminates that problem.)

I used a bending iron and a thin aluminum bending strap, to hand-shape the ribs, and then put them aside in paired sets, with the respective molds for which they are intended.

ribs and linings bent for handmade 5-string fiddle by Chet Bishop in Oregon — Ribs and linings bent and ready to install.

Installing the Ribs

I installed the center-bout ribs first: they can be difficult, so I’m glad they are first. But the real reason they are first, is that the upper and lower ribs will overlap the ends of the center ribs: they do not have a mitered corner, but a lapped corner, which if done correctly, is essentially invisible.

installing ribs on 5-string bluegrass fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishopribs — A pair of center-bout ribs installed.

I frequently use these “French-style” molds, (flush on the back) which allow me to install the front linings and still easily remove the mold. (Italian-style molds are centered on the ribs…I use that kind, too.)

I used cylindrical clamping cauls of appropriate sizes (dowels, broom-handles…whatever) and f-clamps to quickly secure the rib ends before the hot hide glue gels. If I make a mistake, I can steam the joint loose with a teapot, and do it over, correctly.

After the center-bout ribs dry, I shape the ends of the ribs to match the curvature of the blocks. Then the upper and lower ribs can be glued to the perfectly-shaped block and rib. Finally, I begin installing the upper and lower ribs.

installing ribs on 5-string fiddle handmade by Chet Bishop in Oregon — First upper rib installed: notice the shaped endes of the center-bout ribs.

Installing ribs in 5-string fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — A pair of matching upper ribs installed.

installed ribs on five-string fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — All the upper and lower ribs installed. (Looking from the back side of the mold.)

ribs installed on two five-string fiddles, handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop, Luthier. — Two completed rib-sets, ready to be trimmed before adding linings. (Lots of smoke blowing in from the fires this season, making the light kind of red.)

Necks!

While waiting for glue to dry on the ribs, I laid out the necks so that I will be ready to begin carving them.

Linings!

After trimming all the corners, so that they look as though the ribs come together as one, I begin installing the linings. I cut a small mortise on each side of each block, flush with the rib, so that the lining will be glued tightly to the rib, and into the block mortise. I secure them all using hot hide glue.

Next, I cut the linings to length, shaping the ends to closely fit the prepared mortises. Then, I coat about 7mm of the edge of the rib, and the entire mating surface of the lining with hot hide-glue and insert the lining into the mortises and push it to the correct level, corresponding to the ribs. Finally, moving rapidly, I secure it with small spring-clamps.

installing linings in five-string fiddles being handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — One set of linings fully installed: one to go!

Linings installed in five-string fiddles handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — All the front linings installed in both molds.

I made a good deal of progress yesterday, and had hoped to make more progress today, but there were some household repairs that needed to be addressed first; so I didn’t begin working on violins until mid-afternoon.

Tomorrow I will level the fronts of the garlands and trace the front plates… I hope. 🙂

Thanks for looking!

July 31, 2021August 10, 2021

Need More Fiddles!

Failed to Keep Up!

I shipped the last three fiddles I had made and I am left with the “cupboard” looking pretty bare!

This had been a busy year in a lot of other ways, and I have spent a lot of time messing around, trying to build a travel case for the Travel Bass I built last summer. (Without the case, the bass isn’t going anywhere, so I really need to complete it.) Also, the last two fiddles I had made were literally hanging around the house, and so, I wasn’t feeling pressed to build more of them right away.

Sudden Change

But those two fiddles have suddenly found homes. The only two five-string violin-size fiddles I have left are ones I made several years ago: they both play very well, but the ones I am building currently are my best work, and that is what I want to put in players’ hands.

The Plan

So…I decided I had better hit the Lutherie trail in a big way: I took six of my molds (five in the photo, below…the sixth shows up later) and glued the blocks in place, to begin a group of six new fiddles. I plan to select and prepare materials, and match them together into “kits,” so that I know which top plate goes with which back plate…and neck, and ribs, etc.

Then, I plan to begin building them in pairs, but I will always have another pair ready to begin, if things slow down at all.

5-string fiddle molds with blocks and a transparent template. — Five molds with blocks and a transparent template.

The Process:

You have to look closely to see the plexiglass template in the photograph above (and below.) The template is hard to see, but it gives the precise shape I want for the outline of my blocks. I use a ballpoint pen to trace the shape onto the blocks.

Template tracing block shapes for 5-string bluegrass fiddle made by Chet Bishop — I use the template to trace the exact shape I want for my blocks.

Then, I use a saw to roughly cut out the shapes , and an oscillating spindle sander to shape them precisely. I apply wax to the edges of the molds so that an accidental drop of glue can’t bond them to a rib. The ribs are only glued to the blocks and linings, initially…the mold will be removed.

Molds with blocks shaped for 5-string bluegrass fiddle by Chet Bishop — Here are the blocks, shaped and ready for ribs.

Wood Choices

Next, I cut the ribs from wood that match the back and neck, as closely as possible. Usually, I try to get them all out of the same billet of wood. Over the years, I have harvested some of my wood, myself, or it was given to me by a friend, in log form, and I had someone mill it up for me. At other times, I have bought other wood from tonewood dealers.

I have used a variety of woods for the back plates: These (below) are all Big Leaf Maple, and I have used a wide variety of other woods; but when I build for classical orchestral instruments, I use only European Maple and Spruce.

I bought the wood (in the pictures below) from Bruce Harvie, of Orcas Island Tonewood Co. That piece of Big leaf maple on the right measures 2″ thick, about 6″ wide, and 16″ long, or more. The large billet allowed me to cut the ribs, neck and two-piece back all from the same billet. I cut up the Englemann Spruce billet on the left to provide two tops and nine bass-bars.

Wood for 5-string bluegrass fiddles made in Oregon by Chet Bishop. — Englemann Spruce and Big Leaf Maple.

MAple wood for a 5-string bluegrass fiddle made in Oregon by Chet Bishop. — Same piece of Maple…closer view.

Processing the materials:

To begin with, I used a bandsaw to slice off the rib material. Then, I laid out the actual shape I needed for the back and neck. (The traced “shape” visible in the above photo is not my mark: it is just the way tonewood dealers catch the imagination of their customers.) 🙂

When I cut out the back plate shape I had to slice it in half lengthwise, and glue the halves together, to form the back plate.

planing center joint of a back plate for a Chet Bishop five-string fiddle. — Hand-planing the center joint.

Maple back for 5-string bluegrass fiddle made in Oregon by Chet Bishop. — Same billet, made into a back plate blank. The rest became ribs and neck.

Then, I traced out all the neck billets and used a bandsaw to cut them out.

Neck billets for 5-string fiddles made in Oregom by Chet Bishop. — Looks like a “bouquet of fiddle necks.” They will be matched with their respective backs and ribs.

Next, in addition to the work on the heavier components, I sliced ribs from appropriate wood to match the wood of the backs: a darker maple back required darker maple ribs. They will be only 1 mm thick when finished.

Ribs for 5-string fiddle. — I was glad I had rib material that matched the color of the old wood for this fiddle. That back (below) was harvested in September, 1983.

Wood for 5-string fiddle made in Oregon by Chet Bishop — Matching ribs and neck to back wood.

After thinning the ribs, I used a knife to cut the ribs to size.

Wood for ribs for 5-string fiddle made in Oregon by Chet Bishop — Each set of ribs requires three lengths for upper, center and lower bouts.

Douglas Fir

I usually build the top plates of spruce (Sitka, Englemann, European or other species.) Sometimes (rarely) I will use other woods: this one is Douglas Fir. Otto Erdesz used Douglas fir for front plates on many instruments. So far, I have only used Douglas Fir once, but it turned out to be an excellent fiddle, so I am doing it again. 🙂

Wood Kit for a 5-string bluegrass fiddle handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop. — A Douglas Fir top plate with a Big Leaf Maple back, neck and ribs.

And finally, I see the kits beginning to emerge!

Materials for 5-string fiddles handmade in Oregon by Chet Bishop — These Kits will help me keep focused and encouraged about building the six new fiddles.

I will try to provide updates and to post progress reports.

Thanks for looking.

January 26, 2021August 10, 2021

2021: Two New Five-String Fiddles on the Way

Two New Handmade Five String Fiddles Begun

One Guarneri-Style, One Oliver

The last two commissions were a five-string on the original Oliver Pattern and a five-string on the slightly-wider Guarneri pattern. Both sounded great, and both customers are very happy. So, that left me wondering which one to do next. The obvious answer: Both!

Five String fiddles Guarneri and Oliver, side by side.

I’m trying a new neck and scroll design on the Guarneri model. I hope it works well, because I really like the graceful look.

The instrument on the left (modeled after the 1735 “Plowden” Guarneri, with modifications to acommodate five strings) is left-over Oregon Big Leaf maple from building a five-string double bass, during the summer of last year (same as the Andy Pastor commission fiddle.)

Heavily Flamed Maple for the back plate.

The scroll (also Oregon Big Leaf Maple) is from a tree on the property where my wife grew up, and so are the ribs. The back is from a tree on the next ridge of hills west: about ten miles by road, probably three miles in direct line-of-flight. (Same one from which the recent double bass was taken, as well as several other instruments I have made. The late Terry Howell, of Howell Tree Farm, gave me the entire log, so I have a good supply.)

Experiment:

I have also decided to try an experiment: This will be the first time I have attempted a 5-string bluegrass fiddle with a belly of Douglas Fir, as opposed to Spruce. Otto Erdesz was famous for using it successfully in many of his instruments, so, when a friend gave me some very straight, split Douglas Fir, I decided to make the attempt, on the Guarneri model. It is quite dense compared to spruce, but it rings like a bell, when I tap it with my finger, so, I think it will be good.

Bookmatched Douglas fir top plate with Guarneri-model garland.

The back, as well as the ribs and the scroll on the right-hand instrument above (the Oliver-model) are all from the tree on my Mother- and Father-in-law’s property. The belly, as usual, is Sitka Spruce.

Spruce belly, Oregon Big Leaf Maple back and scroll.

So, that is where things stand, today:

All the parts for the two new 5-string fiddles.

Slow Start due to Repairs and other Responsibilities

This has been a slow start: 2021 saw me needing to repair my ancient bandsaw, and, even more depressing, my drill press had succumbed to the misguided attention of a marauding mouse. (The little wretch had crawled up through the ventilation holes of the electric motor and chewed off all the insulation from about 4″ of wire!)

Saw:

The bandsaw required disassembly and drilling out a worn, threaded hole, and retapping for a helicoil. The machine will probably outlast me, now.

Drill Press:

The drill press motor had to be taken apart and a new wire soldered in place. (A friend did that one for me. I really lack confidence when it comes to electric motor repair.) Fortunately, the damage was limited to just that one wire. (Maybe the plastic insulation gave the mouse a belly-ache.)

Back in business:

At any rate, I now have both machines running again, and I was able to saw out the profiles for the remaining plates as well as drilling the pilot holes in each scroll.

I should be able to get more done, now. (Gotta prune the apple-trees, too… Spring is on the way!)

Thanks for looking.

December 25, 2020August 10, 2021

Another new 5-String in Progress

Last five-string fiddle for 2020!

This is my original mold– my first five-string was built on this mold, as was the commissioned instrument from a year ago. I will not complete it before the end of this year, obviously, but it is on the way.

The neck and back are made of spalted, heavily flamed Big Leaf Maple, salvaged from the yard at the home where my wife grew up. Her mom and dad had the tree taken down a few years ago, and my son and I salvaged a little of it. The front plate is sitka spruce.

front plate arching complete — Front plate arching complete.

back plate arching complete — Back plate arching complete.

It will be a few weeks…and there is another coming right behind it, but on the Guarneri mold.

Thanks for looking.

July 2, 2020July 2, 2020

Beginning the Back Plate

Back Plate Arching

Traced and cut out the Plate

When I last posted, I had flattened the back plate, using a plane, but the shape was still oversized.

Flattened back plate for five-string double bass. — Flattened back plate for 5-string double bass.

So I traced out the plate shape using a small section of plastic pipe as a guide, and a ball-point pen inside the pipe to make the mark. Then I cut out the plate using my very old Craftsman “Auto-Scroller” saber saw.

My beloved wife, Ann, bought me this saw when we had been married for less than two years, and it has served me well for the last 38 years, but this may be the final plate it will cut out. It overheated rather badly during the cut. 🙁

Back Plate for five-string double bass traced and cut to shape. — Back Plate traced and cut to shape.

Once the plate was cut out, I used my curved-sole scrub-plane to remove waste wood, and rapidly bring the plate to near the proper thickness around the edge. As the thickness gets close to the target dimension, I switch over to the Ibex Finger-plane with the toothed blade and the wooden handle, to complete the thicknessing of the plate edge. The Oregon Big Leaf Maple is much more difficult to carve than the Spruce was, both because it is harder, and because the grain is highly flamed, meaning that it changes directions every centimeter or so, resisting all efforts to smoothly plane off the wood. The toothed plane helps, but when I start getting close to the right thickness, I will have to switch over to a scraper before the tear-outs from planing are too deep to be removed.

Arching of the five-string double bass back plate underway. — Arching of the back plate is underway.

You can see the longitudinal arching template in the above photo: it is just a thin piece of plywood with an 11′-3″ radius circle section cut out of it so as to leave the correct arching height in the center. I used that to help me establish the longitudinal arching. The Ibex plane is on the plate, and the scrub-plane is almost out of sight behind a small block-plane in the background. The small block-plane is helpful for smoothing the ridges left by the scrub-plane.

I am working to the rough sketch I made before beginning, with the plan for the back arching: (I did change the plan a little. I realized that I could extend the arching a little further “north,” as I have tapered the entire garland a little, so that the bend in the upper bouts will not be so severe, and the arching may be able to follow it a little way before flattening out to avoid the compound curve. It’s worth a try, anyway, and will not hurt anything.)

Rough sketch of arching plan for the five-string double bass back plate. — Rough sketch of arching-plan for the back plate.

Arching of the back-plate for a five-string double bass still in progress. — Arching of the back-plate still in progress. Scrub-plane is more visible in this picture.

My hands and shoulders were getting too tired, so I went inside and used small finger-planes, files, and scrapers to refine the scroll. I am waiting on an order of carbon-fiber reinforcement materials to complete the neck, but other than that, I am pleased with how it is turning out.

Scroll for a five-string double bass nearing completion. — Scroll is nearing completion.

I also completed the scraping of the Sitka Spruce belly, and it is pretty much ready to be glued to the garland.

Front plate and Garland for a five-string double bass, ready to be joined. — Front plate and Garland, ready to be joined.

I pretty much wore myself out on this stretch: I’m looking like a tired old man, here. And I thought I was smiling…

The luthier with five-string double bass in progress.

Anyway…that is the current status.

Thanks for looking.

June 27, 2020

More Work on the Double Bass Plates

Front Plate Inside Carving

Rough carving the inside of the Front plate

As I said in the post regarding tools, I built the little curved-sole scrub-plane with the specific intent of using it to carve out the inside of the Sitka Spruce front plate for this Five-string Double Bass.

Rough-carving the interior of the Five-string Double Bass front plate. — Rough-carving the interior, using the scrub plane.

Carving Dots

As the depth approached the correct value, I began switching over to the palm plane, there in the foreground. But as it turned out, I actually had a long way to go before I was anywhere near too thin.

I used the bass caliper to register thicknesses all over the plate, and then began carving “dots” at each location, to the desired thickness.

As I found (or created) spots that were at the correct thickness, I wrote in the thickness, and highlighted them in yellow, to warn myself against going any deeper. Eventually, I had mapped out the entire plate at least approximately according to this diagram from Peter Chandler’s book “So you want to build a Double Bass”:

He had derived these measurements from a fine old master bass by Domenico Busan, which conveniently happened to be disassembled for repairs and restoration. He said that he had subsequently used these values on all his basses, and it always worked well. (Sounds good to me!)

I kept carving until I had “dots” all over the plate.

Connecting the Dots

Then I began “Connecting the Dots”:

As I planed away the excess wood, the “dots” got smaller and smaller, and, in some areas disappeared. By that point I had switched over to the palm plane which is less aggressive and makes a smoother surface.

But eventually, it was pretty much all done, and time to cut out the f-holes. However, I decided to install the purfling first, and then cut out the f-holes.

Purfling installed:

I did not take pictures while this step was in progress: I just got going and pressed on until the job was finished, then took a few pictures. Sorry. I don’t always think about pictures.

I used this old purfling marker to trace my lines, then a thin-bladed knife to slice along the lines to make a slot…then picked out the waste wood and inlaid the purfling.

Old purfling tool: missing part replaced with maple.

Upper bouts of five-string double bass with purfling installed. — Upper bouts with purfling installed.

Bass F-hole incised and center bout with purfling on five-string double bass. — Bass F-hole incised and center-bout with purfling.

Cutting the F-holes

I used a coping saw to cut out the f-holes. It was slow and laborious but it worked, and there was little chance of any catastrophic errors. The result was two f-holes cut within a millimeter of the line and no errors. It is starting to look like a double bass!

f-holes in five-string double bass cut out. — F-holes cut out.

Rough cut f-hole on 5-string double bass ready for refinement. — Rough-cut f-hole ready for refinement.

Using a knife to refine the f-holes on a five-string double bass. — Using a knife to refine the f-holes. ( I will finish them with a file.)

Bass-bar fitting

Fitting fixtures for fitting the bass-bar on a five-string double bass. — Fitting fixtures for fitting the Sitka Spruce bass-bar.

I use a very thin paper gauze tape for chalk-fitting bass-bars.

Chalk-fitting tape — This is the tape I use, along with sidewalk chalk.

The trick is to press the bar into the chalked tape, and “wiggle it” slightly, to pick up chalk on the high spots. then plane off just the chalked places and do it again, until all of the bass-bar comes up with chalk on it. That achieves a perfect fit. When the tape is finally removed, it takes all the chalk with it.

Then I warm the wood using a heat gun, apply a liberal coating of hot hide glue to both surfaces and clamp the bar in place. I leave it overnight to dry, just to make certain it will not pop back off (I have had it happen.)

Bass bar for the five-string double bass, fitted, glued and clamped. — Bass bar fitted, glued and clamped.

Fitted bass-bar for five-string double bass, ready to carve to shape. — Installed bass-bar, ready to carve to shape.

The properly-installed bass-bar still has to be carved to the appropriate shape. I use planes to accomplish the carving.

Beginning to carve the bass-bar on a five-string double bass. — Beginning to carve the bass-bar.

Bass bar nearly complete for a five-string double bass. — Bass bar nearly complete.

Interior of completed Front plate sitting on the garland of a five-string double bass. — Interior of completed Front plate sitting on the garland.

Completed front plate resting on the garland of a five-string double bass. — Completed front plate resting on the garland. (Starting to look like a double bass!)

Back Plate Vision

There is still a good deal to be done, before I can install the Front plate, so I am stopping there for the time being.

But I really wanted to get a foretaste of what the Big Leaf maple of the back is going to look like; so I planed the inside and outside of the back plate flat, just to have a look at it:

Back plate inside surface for a five-string double bass. — Back plate inside surface.

Back plate outside surface, for a five-string double bass. — Back plate outside surface.

It is pretty stuff! I am really looking forward to seeing it completed.

Thanks for looking.

June 26, 2020

And, occasionally, Gifts!

Gift Box

Why a box?

An elderly couple of friends gave me a large pile of highly flamed “fiddleback” maple, hoping I could build fiddles of the wood. This was Big Leaf Maple wood that the woman’s father had salvaged specifically because of the beautiful grain, perhaps fifty years ago, while making wood to heat his home.

Unfortunately, the wood turned out to be riddled with worm damage so that most of it is unusable. I felt bad about it, because she had hoped, all through the years, to have a box or something made of the wood, and now it seemed to be lost.

I had just repaired my bandsaw, though, while in the process of building the five-string double bass, and was busy cutting up billets of violin-wood to see what I really had that would be useable. I salvaged a few pieces of their maple wood that (maybe) could make a violin, and enough thin slices that I thought I would try a box for her.

When most people think of a box, they are thinking of a rectangular enclosure of some sort: but, I’m a violin maker! So…I bent the wood into an oval, and went from there:

There was not enough solid wood to do very much, so the heavier sections are from a different tree; one cut from the yard of my wife’s family home.

Gift box showing bent body, inlaid top, solid base and lid.

I inlaid the fiddleback maple section about 3 mm thick, into the lid which was also flamed maple, but not as spectacular. I trimmed it with purfling left over from the building of the five-string double bass.

The sides were only a little over a millimeter thick and bent around a hot iron made for that purpose. But they would be too fragile, if that was all that was there, and there would also be no secure way to fasten them to the base. So there is a 4 mm raised section glued to the base and the sides wrap around that “plug.” I added a 5 mm thick ring around the top, the same size as the bottom plug, in order to reinforce the upper edge.

Then I inlaid a 7 mm wide by 2 mm thick band of bent willow wood into the lid, positioned so that it fits cleanly inside the upper ring. As it happens, the lid fits perfectly in one direction, but if you turn it 180 degrees, it is very loose. So I stamped my name in the base and the lid: when you open the lid, if both are readable or if both are upside down, then the lid will fit.

I varnished the bentwood box pretty much the same as I do my violins, and delivered it the following Saturday.

Both the husband and wife seemed quite pleased, so I am happy too.

Thanks for looking,

May 11, 2020June 2, 2020

Back to the Bass!

New Project? Nope! Not really!

Picking up where I left off:

This is not really a new project, but rather one that was “tabled,” for lack of better term…work was suspended until a better set of circumstances emerged.

I built the mold for this bass in 2015, began bending ribs in 2017, with a woefully inadequate bending iron, and a great deal of frustration.

A commission came in, so I set aside the bass, to work on the cello, and never came back to it…so it sat in the corner of my workshop silently sneering at me every time I looked that way.

But! Since I was laid off from my job, where I had worked for 33-1/3 years, in January, I am catching up with some projects and able to face others with new eyes.

Here is the five-string 16-1/2″ viola I am just finishing up, balanced on top of the bass mold:

Large viola with five-string double bass mold. — Large viola with double bass mold.

Once I had the bass mold up on my bench again, it was easier to confront the problems, rather than avoiding them.

The New Bending Iron

The first thing I needed was a new bending iron. A fellow I met online, John Koehler, a fellow bass maker, told me how he built his bending iron. So I followed his lead, and built a new bending iron:

Homemade bending iron, enabling me to bend the ribs for the 5-string double bass. — My homemade bending iron.

It is a section of exhaust tube, welded to a piece of angle iron, so that I could clamp the apparatus in a vise. Heat is supplied by a 550-W electric charcoal briquette lighter, controlled by a 600-W dimmer switch. It took a little trial and error to get it set up correctly and to calibrate it, but it turned out to work very well! (What a relief!)

Bending the ribs

Bending the remaining two Big Leaf Maple ribs was nearly effortless, and took about ten minutes, tops, not counting waiting for the tube to heat up.

Lower ribs bent to approximate the mold shape of the 5-string double bass. — Lower ribs bent to approximate the mold shape.

Installing the ribs and linings

Then I glued the ribs into the fir blocks on the mold with hot hide glue, one at a time, and affixed the willow linings in the same manner before moving to the next rib.

Treble rib with linings installed on the 5-string double bass. — Treble rib with linings installed.

Once one rib was completely secure, trimmed and lined, I rolled the bass mold over and repeated the operation on the other side.

Bass side rib with linings installed on the 5-string double bass. — Bass side rib with linings installed.

I planed the linings flush with the ribs and blocks, and the garland was essentially complete. It will require careful leveling before fitting the plates, but not much other than that.

Completed rib garland for the 5-string double bass. — Completed rib garland.

In the coming weeks, I will complete the center-joins of front and back plates, then complete the carving of the plates and the neck and scroll, and start putting this bass together!

Just as a teaser, this is the wood for the front, back and neck:

Sitka Spruce billet for the front plate of the 5-string double bass. — Sitka Spruce billet for the front plate.

Big Leaf Maple for back plate and neck of the 5-string double bass. — Big Leaf Maple for the back plate and neck.

(Notice that there is a fair chunk left over where the neck pattern does not use all the wood it is on: watch that space! )

Thanks for looking!