Newbie- Any help appreciated

[MitchB]

Hey guys,

Im totally new to instrument making and it has been my ambition to make a violin.
I have been researching the craft for a while and have learnt a fair bit.

I was wondering the best place to source wood from was in your experience?

Any advice that you could provide me in my journey would be greatly appreciated

Cheers, Mitch

[woodturner777]

Hi Mitch,
I supply tonewood for Violins please contact me at the address below.
Regards, Bob

Hey guys,

Im totally new to instrument making and it has been my ambition to make a violin.
I have been researching the craft for a while and have learnt a fair bit.

I was wondering the best place to source wood from was in your experience?

Any advice that you could provide me in my journey would be greatly appreciated

Cheers, Mitch

[Sebastiaan56]

Hi Mitch,

If you have been researching for a while you will know the conventions in violin world. There are a few (OK, there are lots) so it depends on what you want to build. If you are planning to sell or enter any makers competitions you will need to use Carpathian Spruce and Bosnian Maple like the Cremonese makers did. American Spruces (particularly Engleman) and Big Leaf Maple are finding favour FWIW.

If you are interested more in folky type instruments then there are lots of possibilities. But a lot of the published technical plate tuning data will be of limited use. You will be on your own. I have seen instruments made of Huon Pine and QLD Maple with Spruce tops. The Australian Instrument Makers Association has local expertise.

Bob is our local vendor, he sells very nice timber. If you want to go overseas Simeon Chambers is great to deal with. There are no directly equivalent local timbers for Spruce BTW.

[MitchB]

Thanks for the quick response guys
I dont plan to enter the selling market and plan to just keep it as a hobby.
I hope to make a number of violins out of different woods so i will definetly look into local and overseas suppliers.
Thanks again guys

[robgran]

Hi Mitch,

How are you progressing with learning the craft of violin making? I have just started researching the subject, and would appreciate your recommendations on any particularly useful sources of info.

My intention is to start with local timbers, at least during the early stages of learning the techniques. If I can develop some skill, I might consider imported timber, but this could be a few years down the track.

My first violin will be made from King Billy Pine, as I had the opportunity to get a nice slab from a sawmiller in Rochester. His name is James Anderson and he has been salvaging and milling Tasmanian timbers since the 1990's. He really enjoys milling the timber and supplying it to enthusiasts for guitars etc and fine furniture.
This link gives more detail about James Box making timber-anyone intersted? - Page 3 - Woodwork Forums

He also has Huon Pine, Myrtle, Sassafras.

There is some info on local timbers used for violins in "Wood In Australia" by Keith Bootle, but it doesn't say how good they are.

Rob

[Phil in Perth]

Hey guys,

Im totally new to instrument making and it has been my ambition to make a violin.
I have been researching the craft for a while and have learnt a fair bit.

I was wondering the best place to source wood from was in your experience?

Any advice that you could provide me in my journey would be greatly appreciated

Cheers, Mitch

My good advice would be to build a Cigar Box Uke before commencing a Violin.
If you can knock up a workable Uke in a few weekends then maybe making a violin is possible for you. Otherwise.........

This supplier. of wood and stuff is reliable, and speaks English well.
Cremona Tools



Phil

[MitchB]

Hey guys, thanks for the responses.
I have bought a few books on violin making and have been reading them>
Unfortunately the project has been pushed to the side to make way for a few other things that needed doing.
Hopefully ill be able to get back to it soon!