Fiddle Update

My goal is to have a completed fiddle by Christmas, and I'll go out on a limb and say that I *think* it's actually doable. I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Or rather, hearing the music. Here's an update on my recent progress:

Most of "dishing out", as Violet calls it, of fiddle backs and tops are done with a curved knife. But the knife leaves deep grooves, so the finish work is done with a scraper - a piece of glass or sharpened metal, and sandpaper. Violet says she and her Dad used to do most of their scraping with broken fruit jars. Here's me in the process of scraping the inside of my top with a piece of windowpane hubby's granddad and I had a lot of fun breaking.

The grain of the sassafras wood I'm using makes it a little tougher to get smooth. Joe, a guy who's also making a fiddle, is using soft maple. He smugly sits across from me and proceeds to cut it like hot butter. However, I seem to gravitate toward challenges. (I mean, look at my choice in husbands. Haha...just kidding Marden.) I've learned a lot by watching Joe, though. #1) Always listen to Violet, because if you don't you end up putting a hole in your fiddle back, cutting the wrong end off your finger board, nearly putting a hole through the fiddle top, making your sound holes too big, and a myriad of other issues encountered by not listening. #2), Always measure multiple times, and have Violet check your work BEFORE you glue. #3) is to pretty much do the opposite of what Joe is doing. While he's a super-nice guy, he is the proverbial bull in the china closet. He'll get his fiddle done, though...and we'll both learn a lot in the process.

After what felt like years of scraping and sanding (and tons of sawdust boogers), I was FINALLY able to cut the sound holes. It took me a good 30 minutes to actually draw them on, then a full hour to screw up the nerve to actually make a cut. Violet does her sound holes with a drill press, but I wisely chickened out and chose to start mine with a tiny hand drill, then (remembering Joe) slowly expand the holes with a well-worn but very sharp pocket knife.

That's it for now! Stay tuned for further updates.