Journal

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Tuesday, June 8, 2010 New digs

Just prior to RedDog's European expedition, I'll be moving the shop to larger quarters. Tom, guitarist and banjo operator for RedDog, has a new studio and the violin shop will join him there. This will make the shop big enough so I stop losing things (I hope) and  so that people can stop by to try out violins or play a tune or swap tall tales. Here are two snapshots of the space.

Saturday, May 29, 2010 Arching the table

Alafaire's table. The inside is already hollowed and substantially finished with only a little blending to go. The outside is now matched to the inside making any minor corrections necessary. Out of the original glued up blank, most of the spruce will wind up as shavings on the shop floor.

Saturday, May 29, 2010 Making the table

Italian spruce for Alafaire's table glued up and resting.

Thursday, May 20, 2010 Alafaire: Back

This is the back of the most recent Strad model. Already hollowed and with the arches roughed out, it's ready to be planed down to final shape and graduated.

I used to give the fiddles names just before I closed the body but lately, with the lead time on silver tags, I try to do it right away. This one is called Alafaire, a name first seen in Scotland and England in the 16th century.

Thursday, May 13, 2010 Northwest Folklife

This year at Folklife on the narrative stage, I will be part of a presentation on practical acoustics, specifically regarding violins. Joining me will be Rick Davis of Running Dog Guitars, who will offer the guitar perspective on the same subject. The hour long presentation will be tailored to whomever shows up and what they, as a collective audience, are interested in talking about. Hopefully we will also have a practical demonstration or two as accompaniment to our dialog; maybe even a diagram.

Thursday, March 4, 2010 More space

Recently a larger room became available and this past weekend, we(meaning I) moved into it. With about 40% more floor space, it seems vast and luxurious. You can see the two newest fiddles hanging to the right of the window. Fiorenza and Rosalie, both waiting for fingerboards, setup and a little polishing.

I'm still in the process of finding places to put things, but it's wonderful to be able to move to the band saw without impaling myself on the alignment bolt.

Thursday, March 4, 2010 Rosalie

Rosalie, the small scale full size fiddle, is finally ready to set up. Here she is shown hanging out waiting for the fingerboard to be glued in place.