Making a violin fingerboard from start to finish (condensed) 

I haven't experimented with different types of wood, but over the centuries many different kinds of wood have been used, and I don't think it's a coincidence that spruce and maple have become the standard for violins. In particular, the spruce proved to be unsurpassed for soundboards (not only for violins but for stringed instruments in general). Maple has an effect on the tone and different woods would give different results in this sense, but for classical music and for violins in particular, the brilliance that maple manages to give is also unsurpassed. For violas and cellos there is more space for different woods, even historically there are several successful examples with woods such as willow or poplar or some fruitwood (pearwood, cherry, etc.) and others, for the different tonal characteristics of these instruments (darker and less bright tone). But in the end they must be hard enough woods but with a low density so that they are not excessively heavy in order not to slow down the vibratory response (quickness of response under the bow). I don't know yew wood but I suspect it can't keep up with spruce or maple if what you are looking for is a violin suitable for classical music. But it could probably work somehow, maybe the sound would be nice too, it depends on the expectations. Finding something new and better is rather difficult with violins, considering they have been under experimentation since the mid-sixteenth century...

Yes, I only use the best I can find, the only problem is that it is increasingly rare and for one blank (still to be worked) the price can even exceed 40 euros each.😲😲

@@Kelvin-ed6ce I get them from a local shop in Cremona, but I personally choose them by selecting the best among those of "master quality", because even at the top level quality they are not all the same, some are better than others. www.cremonatools.com/fingerboard-violin-1st-master-quality.html

@@DavideSora it is beautiful to be sure - a book I read recommends using the lighter colored blanks and staining them black. Is there any drawback to this that you can see other than that the coloring would need to be done each time the fingerboard is resurfaced? Is there for instance additional hardness that comes with the darker wood, or is it purely aesthetic?

@@mrgolftennisviolin The black color of ebony does not necessarily indicate a harder wood, but it is certainly the most valuable because it is more difficult to find. There are also ebony with streaks and lighter color that have an excellent hardness and quality for fingerboards, but personally I prefer to avoid using it because for aesthetic reasons it would need to be dyed, and the dyeing could give some problems with the aggressive perspiration of some players. If you decide to use it, I suggest not to dye it because in any case it could have an interesting aesthetic effect, even if it does not conform to the classical vision of many musicians and luthiers, who mistakenly associate color with quality. But whether it's lighter colored, streaked, or perfectly black, the color has nothing to do with quality, the size of the pores is a better indicator, they have to be as small as possible. Even the straightness of the grain and the absence of undulations (flames) is another indicator of good quality. Regarding lightness, it is true that African ebony is generally stiffer and lighter than Asian ebony, and is often also lighter in color or with streaks, but it is nonetheless a generalization that makes no sense as these characteristics can be found in all woods of all origins. Furthermore, the weight is not so important, because you need high density wood (and so heavy) for good quality fingerboard. If it were it would be better to go back to making fingerboards as in the Baroque era, that is with a light wood core only veneered in ebony, as Stradivari did, using willow for the core.

Quella che ho modificato con la suola curva è una Stanley 60 1/2 con la lama inclinata a 12°. Quella che uso per piallare il piano di incollaggio è una Stanley 9 1/2 con la lama inclinata a 21°. In realtà l'inclinazione della lama non è molto importante perchè l'angolo di taglio di queste pialle deriva dall'inclinazione della lama + l'angolo di affilatura, entrambe andrebbero bene per essere modificate con la suola curva.

Infatti. Grazie !

Нет, если вы хотите сделать хорошую работу, вы должны работать над всем, включая кривую. Кусочки, которые вы покупаете, имеют неровный изгиб и могут деформироваться из-за движения дерева по мере его старения. No, if you want to do a good job, you have to work everything, including the curve. The pieces you buy have an uneven curve and can be warped due to the movement of the wood as it ages.

​@@DavideSora спасибо большое! ❤️

It is mainly used to compensate for the longitudinal concavity under the strings. Due to this longitudinal concavity, if you made the sides perfectly straight, they would appear of non-constant thickness, becoming thinner in the center and thicker at the ends. It is also used to obtain a slimmer neck towards the heel, facilitating playability in high positions.

This video is just a summary of my fingerboard work, but if you are interested in more details you can watch the complete series of my videos on fingerboard making, which you will find gathered in this Playlist: ru-vid.com/group/PLaxadm6POX7GSmVH_BBckj7QZUQC7M_nS (In all videos you will find the English translation of the texts on the description page) In particular, in this video, I made a summary of all the measurements and how to take them: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--5H4X-6Glu8.html Regarding how curvature radii are obtained, you can find all the information in this interesting article: fixitwithshading.com/tag/fingerboard/

I am not aware that they are for sale, I made them myself, I think you will have to make them too. I've seen this on the web, but it only has 42mm radius (mine are 42 and 60mm) and then it's huge, too chunky. Maybe you can try to reduce its size, but i don't know if it's worth it: www.internationalviolin.com/ProductDetail/t1951_triton-violin-fingerboard-sanding-block-r42 Making them is not that difficult: you square a block of wood of the appropriate size on all its sides, draw two arcs of the radius you want on the two opposite sides, and connect the two marks making sure that it stays straight checking with a straightedge. You don't need an absolute accuracy, because in the end they will have to be flatter than the curve of the fingerboard.

Ottima domanda, colgo l'opportunità per chiarire. La tastiera a questo punto della lavorazione non è finita completamente, gli spigoli andranno smussati facendo un piccolo smusso largo un millimetro scarso e arrotondando poi solo sulla parte esterna (verso il manico) lasciando gli spigoli interni più netti, in modo da definire bene la superficie dove appoggeranno le dita (playing surface). Questa operazione io la faccio quando ho finito di verniciare il violino e incollo definitivamente la tastiera che avevo scollato per la verniciatura e prima di incollare il capotasto. E' però importante mantenere gli spigoli vivi per quando si dovrà fare l'incastro del manico nella cassa, in modo da avere un riferimento preciso per allineare la tastiera con il ponticello e incastrare il manico con la direzione corretta.

@@DavideSora mentre si il capotasto é già incollato allora conviene fare gli smussi prima di reincollare definitivamente la tastiera?

@@joesatriani7574 gli smussi è sempre meglio farli quando è già incollata, perchè a volte potrebbe succedere che durante l'incollaggio si crei qualche leggera gobba alla fine del manico che va ripresa anche sulla curva, se hai già fatto gli smussi dovrai correggere anche quelli. Inoltre il capotasto non dovrebbe essere incollato al manico ma solo alla tastiera e con pochissima colla, in modo che sia facile staccarlo per quando si rettifica la tastiera periodicamente e per fare in modo che quando si scolla la superficie del manico non si danneggi. Quindi in teoria non dovrebbe rimanere incollato al manico

It's Ebony. It has a natural black color (it is not dyed), and it is a very hard and high-density wood. For these reasons, it is the most suitable and traditionally used wood for fingerboards

I made my first curved scraper by hand, doing the rough work with the grinding wheel, getting the final accurate shape with files, and sharpening the cutting edges with curved waterstones. It's a lot of work and not very easy, but it can be done. The ones you see in the video I had made by a company that cuts sheet steel, in order to have all the radiuses you need with a half-millimeter difference between one and the other, doing them all by hand would be a considerable undertaking. But these serve mainly as a reference template, the use as a scraper is only a side effect, and not really essential. One in steel would be enough to use as a scraper, and all the others in any other material to be used only as a reference template, given that the final work to obtain the accuracy of the shape is done with the curved sanding block and the sandpaper.

@DavideSora thanks...I have a machine shop at work...perhaps I can bribe the machinist with a case of beer to make me a set

@@chrisanderson2984 Yes, I think a couple of beers may be enough.😅 Being simple circular arcs they are quite simple to make, if you have the right equipment to work steel. My set goes from 37.5mm to 42mm radius, with half a mm differences between each, 10 templates in total.

I buy good quality knives at thrift stores and make my scrapers.

Yes, you are right, here I show how I make a fingerboard starting from a semi-worked product, which is what practically all luthiers do. Of course you can start with a square ebony block (I do it every now and then), but it doesn't change much in the sequence of operations

@@DavideSora Sorry Davide, but making a template out of a square piece of wood is actually what I really wanted to see. Especially how you proceed making the radius convex top. Your video shows only fine touches here and there.

@@gothicrecital The videos titled "... from start to finish" are just a condensed version to show the work in a generic way, to see all the details of the work you have to look at the more detailed ones. You can find a full index with direct links to these detailed videos, listed in working progress order here: davidesora.altervista.org/videos Specifically for the fingerboard, you can find them all gathered in this playlist: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--8B2Oju-AiE.html Anyway, to start from the raw block I proceed as follows (you won't find this in the videos): Create a parallelepiped with dimensions slightly larger than the final ones of the fingerboard, flatten one side (which will be the gluing surface to the neck), square the two lateral sides and the two heads. Then trace the centerline and mark the top (nut) and bottom (end) widths of the fingerboard at a length of 270mm. Saw the two sides obtaining the taper from the nut to the end, then plan them square with the lower face previously flattened. From this point on, the procedure is the same as that starting from a semi-worked piece, only you will have to remove more wood. In fact, even when using the semi-worked piece it will be necessary to completely rework it on all its surfaces if you want to get a quality finished fingerboard, no original surface will remain of the initial semi-worked piece.

@@DavideSora Thank you. This explanation helps.

@@gothicrecital if you can follow the steps shown here, it’s only a matter of additional time to create the same result from a square blank of ebony.

Se vuoi contattarmi devi mandarmi una E-mail o scrivere qui nella sezione commenti, non sono su Facebook

@@DavideSora tota5777@yahoo.com

@@domineerviolinchromestudio3346 davidesora.altervista.org/find-us/contacts/

No way, manual labor is an essential priority for me