Yes, I Am Still Alive!

Hi Everybody!

Wow! It has been a VERY busy summer!
You can see some of what we have been up to HERE.

So, I am FINALLY getting around to working on this violin again.......
As I mentioned way back in April :) (sheepish grin!) the varnish was very difficult to remove. After many hours of scraping the varnish, I have finally finished! YAY!!!

A lot of the varnish soaked into the wood, so there are still a couple of spots that show some of the red dye I talked about earlier.

Here are some pictures:

 

 

Next, I will be working on re-graduating the plates to the correct thickness.

Hopefully I will be posting way more often on my progress, so stay tuned!

Bass Bar and Upper Block

Because the bass bar was crooked and placed incorrectly on the plate, I used a gouge to carve it out.

 

           As you can see, the upper block (where the neck attaches to the violin body) was broken.

I cut and fit a new upper block

After I carved out the old block.......

Gluing and clamping the new one in.  

Competition in Pillager, MN

April 2, 2016 was the date of the 32nd annual Pillager Fiddler's Competition in Pillager, MN.
I competed in this contest, and placed 1st in my age division (14yrs.-19yrs.). The songs I performed were Golden Fiddle Waltz, and Sally Gooden. Below is a link to a video of the competition. I am the second performer in the video.
Pillager Fiddle Contest

Disassembled and Removing the Varnish

We have successfully disassembled the violin....

In the picture above, you can see that very little care was put into the varnishing of this instrument. Quite a bit of varnish ran in through the f-holes, coating the inside. This will need to be removed.

Here you can see the broken section of the neck joint and purfling.

 In this photo, I am using a special scraper to remove the varnish from the top plate. There was red dye in the varnish, which soaked into the wood..... this was extremely difficult to remove.


Next, I will explain how to check the thickness of the plates. If I find they are too thick, I will go through the process of thinning them down.

Beginning Condition of the Violin

My dad buys antique, European violins. He repairs and restores these instruments. Recently, he purchased this violin, which was advertised as vintage. When it arrived, we found that, in actuality, it was a cheap, very poorly made instrument imported from China. I decided to take on this project for myself. This blog is a timeline of my progress, showing and describing the steps I am taking to remake and re-voice this violin.

Here are some pictures of the violin as it looked when we received it in the mail.

Notice the bright red finish...... the instrument was varnished with something such as polyurethane, opposed to oil varnish or shellac, which would be the correct material to use. The top plate is actually three pieces, so there are two seams in the top. Also notice the nut at the bottom of the violin was broken off.

Evidently, someone put a sticker on the instrument, and then tried to remove it..... :)

I love the beautiful flaming on the back and sides of this violin........

The neck joint was broken, so I will have to take the neck off and reset it.

Next, the violin will be disassembled. We will then begin removing the varnish.

Stay tuned for more!!!