Making the front and back of my violin

Last week I got away from real life and spent a whole five blissful days in Cambridge at Juliet Barker’s violin-making workshop. I thought I’d really move on with making my instrument if I had so much time to devote to it. But, as it turned out, the task that came next was a gruelling one – carving the curve into the outside of the violin’s back (very, very hard and grainy maple wood) and into the outside of the violin’s front (very, very soft and splintery spruce). Oh, the blisters and boils, and the cursings and wailings adn gnashings of teeth …

Here’s where I started and finished. Even to my own indulgent eye, it doesn’t look as though I got very far!

I now have far greater respect than before for real luthiers, who can put together a beautifully finished instrument in about 100 hours, from start to finish.

This took me a good 40 hours, and I’m not done yet … and even when I am, I’ll only be moving on to carving the curves on the INSIDE of those back and front plates.Which will be the same struggle all over again.

No wonder they say that it takes a good couple of years to complete a first instrument. Ay me.

Roll over Stradivari, but maybe not quite yet.