kbrmiller

Bowed instruments usually wouldn't have a French polish finish. It's much more likely either an oil-based or spirit-based varnish. I wouldn't recommend staining it, either. The way the endgrain runs out in the top will make it absorb unevenly and give it a very blotchy look. Usually instruments like that will have all the color in the varnish. If you're going to touch up varnish that's already there, the way it's usually done is with a spirit varnish, like the Behlen's violin varnish you can get through Stewart-MacDonald. If you're set on refinishing the whole thing, you're probably best off using an brushed-on oil varnish intended for violins.

You don't really boil your glue, do you? The Frets.com site you quote suggests 140 degrees Fahrenheit as a maximum. I've heard varying temperatures, and often let mine go hotter than that, but no source I've come across has suggested boiling.

You didn't say you were using metal strings. In that case, you're right; even on Baroque instruments, wire-strung instruments had metal frets. I guess I just assumed you'd be using gut or synthetic strings from the shape of the instrument. It sounds like it should be an interesting instrument. When I played tenor viola da gamba in college I'd occasionally hold it guitar style and play it pizzicato. When you hold it that way it's tuned with the same intervals as a lute. I had a pretty good version of "Dust in the Wind" going, and got some weird looks from the music history teacher. I never had much trouble with the frets moving around, though. Good luck with whatever you decide to call this thing!

Why metal frets? If you use traditional tied-on gut frets you'll have a pretty good approximation of a viola da gamba with Italian-style corners. The body might be a bit thin for a 'gamba, but I'd be inclined to play it as one.

The stuff they add to bottled hide glue to keep it liquid in the bottle also prevents it from fully hardening when you use it. I used to work with a guy who used it exclusively because he didn't know how to use the real thing, and I ended up redoing most of the violin necks he'd try to reglue because they'd pull off after a week.

Try going to your local library and requesting a copy of Violin Making: Step by Step by Henry Strobel through Interlibrary Loan. They should be able to get a copy for you, and it includes full size drawings for a Strad model you can trace, as well as detailed instructions. Take notes! While you're at it, you might want to request a copy of The Art of Violin Making by Chris Johnson and Roy Courtnall. It doesn't have plans, but it's the most detailed book on violin making available. If you read through both of those books you should be off to a pretty good start.

Another tip for cheap nut files I've come across but not yet tried is to cut teeth into a set of automotive feeler gauges.

The best resource you can get is The Art of Violin Making by Courtnall and Johnson. It's expensive (about $120), but well worth it. There's also a series of books by Henry Strobel that's really good. They're much more affordable. Start with Violin Making Step-By-Step. Under no circumstances should you waste money on the Bruce Ossman book Violin Making: A Guide for the Amateur. Everything in it is wrong. Don't try to duplicate the kit to make one from scratch- get some real plans. The best source is the Strad magazine. They sell posters with full size photographs of classical instruments. The back of the poster has an accurately-drawn outline, thicknesses, and measurements. The "Milanollo" Stradivari violin is a good one to start with. If you're looking for a forum devoted to violins, try the Pegbox forum on Maestronet. There are quite a few very good makers there who are very helpful.

I've heard that the main problem with the Titebond liquid hide glue is its short shelf life, but I've had enough bad experiences with it not to trust it for anything other than gluing labels in place. I used to work with an old violin "repairman" who didn't know how to use hot hide glue (unpardonable in the violin world) and used the liquid stuff for everything. I was the guy who had to redo all his work when things like neck resets would come loose after two weeks. It makes sense that this would happen, since the additives that keep it liquid in the bottle would also tend to keep it from hardening. You don't actually have to buy a glue pot if you want to try hot hide glue-- I use a Rival electric HotPot I got at Wal-Mart for about $10. I cut a hole in the top to drop a Mason jelly jar into and stuck a cheap instant-read thermometer through another small hole. Frank Ford's site has a good way of preparing it using a microwave to heat the water. If you only use it occasionally, this works quite well.

Actually, he says that "even the best lacquer when applied to the soundboard was not up to French polish in tone quality." He does say that he experimented with catalyzed finishes, and with the help of chemists was able to modify the resins to his satisfaction, to the point that he now uses French polish only on special request. His finish material is supposed to be controllable so that he can have just the flexibility he wants to enhance a particular instrument, but there are few details about exactly what he uses. Of course, this was all written in 1985, and I believe he has since returned to French polished soundboards on all instruments, with a nitrocellulose/shellac finish for the body of the standard models, and an all French polish finish for the top-of-the-line. Let me reiterate- I didn't say Titebond won't work. I've used it on occasion, and it seems okay, but I also didn't see any particular advantages over my usual hide glue. Is there some particular reason you think hide glue is unsuitable?

I don't know how audible the differences would be, especially in an electric guitar, but Jose Oribe has this to say about hide glue in The Fine Guitar: So theoretically, PVA glues (which also include aliphatic resins) could have a damping effect, but I doubt it would be too noticeable in the joints you mention. I'll take your word that Tage Frid's reasons for preferring hide glue had more to do with convenience than strength, but hide glue is stronger than Titebond. According to Franklin, Original Titebond has a bond strength of 3600 psi, Titebond II has a bond strength of 3750 psi, and Titebond III, their strongest glue, has a bond strength of 4000 psi. Compare this to hot hide glue, which can have a strength in excess of 10,000 psi. For a guitar, these are all strong enough, but it's a mistake to assume that the modern glues are necessarily stronger.

I was just pointing out that the glue with the longest track record isn't aliphatic resin, which has been around less than 50 years. I've used Titebond without problems, and I'm not saying it's worthless, but it seems to me that the reasons for not using hide glue have a lot more to do with convenience of application than with functionality. There are many old pieces of furniture many centuries old that are still holding (with the original glue joints). Keep in mind that the joints in a violin that fail are designed to give when they do, and are frequently glued with a weaker glue for this reason. If the top of your instrument shrinks at a different rate than the ribs, which would you prefer to have break? Gluing a loose seam is much easier than dealing with cracks. Hide glue sets by a two-stage process. The first stage is when the glue cools and gels. That holds the joint together. The second stage is evaporation, during which the glue shrinks. Many violin makers actually use this property to glue the center joint in a top or back with no clamps, in what's known as a "rubbed" joint. You put glue on the mating surfaces, rub the pieces until the glue grabs, and let it dry. The shrinking pulls the joint tighter, and these joints can and do easily hold for hundreds of years. Heat alone won't separate the pieces, but introducing lots of moisture can, so if you want to play in a sauna, maybe hide glue isn't for you. Then again, if your instrument is exposed to those conditions, you're likely to have plenty of other problems besides the glue. If anyone wants to try hide glue, you can get it through most woodworking stores. Woodcraft carries the Behlen brand, which is the same stuff Stewart Macdonald sells, and it's pretty good. Don't bother with the electric glue pot; you can make a better one in a few minutes from a Rival Hot Pot or an electric coffee pot.

Where does one find an aliphatic resin glue joint hundreds of years old? Titebond, the first AR glue, was invented in 1955, so we can't really say anything about its lifespan beyond fifty years. The glue that does have those centuries of use to back it up is hot hide glue, which is much easier to use than most people realize. It's very strong, resists heat better than most modern glues (important if the instrument is left in a hot car, for example), and is fully reversible, should you ever want to undo a joint. For some reason, guitar makers have shifted to AR glues, while violin makers have kept with the traditional hide glue. Personally I can't think of any reason to use a modern glue when hide glue has so many advantages. Note that this only applies to the kind of hide glue you prepare by mixing with water and heating. The Franklin liquid "hide glue" isn't good for much other than gluing in labels.