myguitarnow said:

I'll be happy Cat. I've been studying a lot of the links you put here and on your site about violin making and wow do you study your stuff.

LOL! My brain is full of all sorts of useless information - fiddle building is not my first "hobby" and I research all of them with the same intensity. It's that OCD thing again I also tend to be "too picky" (OH's words) about the tiny details, which seems pretty important when building a fiddle, painting a boat, knitting a complicated lace pattern and on and on.

If the Red Fiddle (any ideas about a sexier name?) turns out half as fabulous as it exists in my brain, I will be very proud to send it to you.

myguitarnow said:

Cat, "The Red Fiddle" is perfect for its name (lets call it her instead of it

 My problem is insomnia and have been battling that since I was a kid. 

 

Edit: One of my favorite TV shows is Monk 

I love Monk, too, but haven't watched in quite some time - TV is a hot topic around here - he believes it's totally worthless and I love me some worthless TV time

We don't yet know if the Red Fiddle is female...

This artist does not suffer from insomnia - I'm very like a cat, lay down, close my eyes and I'm out.

The back purfling is in and planed down. Pardon the dust - the back will be sanded to smooth out the machine marks.

This project has shown me that I need to get some new glasses - with bi-focals! Damn. Getting old sure sucks

Still trying to decide what to do about the corner blocks and working on sanding the tool marks out of the neck and scroll so the black outline on the scroll can be done before the neck is mounted to the body - I think it will be much easier that way.

myguitarnow said:

I keep thinking about that lasik surgery but just can't handle the fact if they F up, I could be completely blind. 

I totally agree – I'm too chicken to try it, although I do know several people who swear by it and have had no complications.

I hope you don't mind that I've been playing a lot of Circa Paleo while working on the Red Fiddle. Some people believe that the music played while a fiddle is being built has a direct influence on how it "prefers" to be played after it's complete. Might not be to your taste, but the rhythms are perfect for fiddle building, at least the way I do it

BCShalom said:

The "MAC CALLAVARIOUS

 

Shalom Shalom

 

by the way it looks great, I hope you use a red varnish, or will you use an oil finish with your own blood???  Arghh. sick, but it was a cool movie.

It will be red, but I can't reveal my varnish formula I will use an oil varnish (easier to get good results than a spirit varnish on the wet Oregon Coast) and I've already given blood (cut thumb a couple of weeks ago,) so the project will be a success, as are all of my projects that I end up bleeding on...

BCShalom said:

LOL, yeah I just re-read the posts.  I forgot that you were building it for someone.  And of course you said it would be red.  The Red Violin.  duuuu?

My wife will kill me but I am really tempted to try one myself.  I am not a real handy man with building new things, but I do fix things all the time.  I am getting closer to a build-a-thon.  LOL. Is there a really good kit available on E-Bay?  I don't remember if you said how you came by the kit.

 

It does look like so much fun.

 

Shalom Shalom

It's a ton of fun! I bought both kits from bezdez on eBay for less than $50.00 US. The quality of the two kits was quite different and some parts and tools need to be bought separately, but it's a pretty good deal if you want to go the extra mile and make improvements.

I've heard good things about the kits from International Violin and Stew-Mac, but haven't seen them in person yet. I'm guessing that their quality is more consistent since they cost quite a bit more. My philosophy is that they are all being mass produced in China, so why not save a few bucks? Yeah, I'm Scotch