Old violins are always full of history, unique and special to work with… But I do absolutely love to build new instruments!
The process begins with choosing the wood and bringing it down to a manageable size using rough gouges or scrub planes (or yes, power tools). Then there is the moment of switching to finer blades and seeing the figure and texture begin to emerge, and letting the motion of your body combine with the shapes and profiles of your tools to create something natural and fluid.
My aim is less to make an exact copy of a particular historical instrument than to understand what made the maker tick and bring something of their attitude to the process – along with my own style and, of course, ideas about how to construct the most comfortable, best sounding instrument that I can.
See my Blog for some more detail about my current and previous projects. I am very open to taking Commissions.
