Something different with strings

[Kenny Wiebusch]

Labor of love right there. Looks tedious. Good job and thanks for sharing. I have three of those things and can't play any of them. They don't like me!

[Kevin in California]

I carved the peg box today and cut off the neck end in preparation for fitting it to the corpus.
Next I'll cut a mortise for the heel to fit in

[Kevin in California]

So I have pretty much shaped the neck other than some touch up final sanding so I began the process of fitting the neck to the body.
A pocket or mortise is cut into the body about 3/16" in sort of a mini dovetail. The neck heel slides down into the pocket and will be glued in. The neck heel sets down on the extension off the back which will form a cap or "button" as it is called.
Neck angle is crucial so the little jig rubber banded to the fingerboard helps to get that right.
I almost have it fitting correctly and the next step will be to glue it on.

[Kevin in California]

After many refinements the neck is glued in place and the "button" is carved and formed on the heel.
Looks pretty good.

And playing around with some colored varnish.

[Jim Ebert]

Kevin, your are a talented dude. Always an inspiration!

[Kevin in California]

So the violin is together "in the white" so it can be tested/played before putting a finish on it.
I strung it up today. I got a bow and rosin and although I don't play the violin I am able to play the strings and it actually sounds like a violin!!!! My wife who is a pianist says it sounds GOOD. Well it needs to be played to really know. My granddaughter who plays will be here for Thanksgiving week and I'll find out then. I may need to make some minor adjustments but I am totally pleased at this stage. FUN!

[Kevin in California]

Okay so after a few weeks have now gone by it was time to start the finishing process. I decided to go with oil varnish. I'm not cooking up my own secret recipe. I'm using Helmsman Spar varnish.
I considered shellac (spirit varnish) but decided it dries too fast when brushing it on and French Polishing around the overhangs would be troublesome. So traditional oil varnish it is

I stripped the violin down to the bare white instrument. The fingerboard was only spot glued on with fish glue and easily pops off.

After much finish sanding the first step was to brush on two coats of Knox gelatin to seal the wood.
Then I mixed up some water dye dark brown and yellow to get a golden color and sponged that on.
When dry and very light sanding with 800 grit today I brushed on the first coat of clear (actually a bit amberish) oil varnish. When dry it will get a second coat of clear.
Then I will start with a number of color coats. I've mixed up a combo of brown red with a little bit of yellow hoping to achieve a medium dark slightly red/brown finish with some golden highlights in the grain.
That will take a few coats if color and a few days application then about 3 weeks of dry time.

That's where I am right now.