My parents bought their house 30 years ago. The guy who owned the house previous to the people my parents bought it from made violins and the like. I recently remembered that up in the rafters there was old slabs of wood. Last night I went up and knocked a couple of the slabs out of the rafters, took them home and ran one through the planer. It turned out to be a beautiful piece of curly maple. (After I knocked the 80+ years of dust off of it)
My question is, the “slabs” are cut into wedges, not flat pieces. Other than revealing the grain, is there a reason to cut the wood this way? Is it related to the violins?
Thanks
Replies
most likely the slabs are meant to be bookmatched and glued together prior to being shaped into the back of the instrument....
Thanks David,
I'm pretty new to this whole thing. Could you explain the process.
Dan
the thick edges of slabs would be glued together - they may have been cut from adjoining wood, in which case the slabs would be 'book-matched' - think of opening a book - - this would furnish a rough approximation of the profile of the back of a violin - from there, small specialized planes remove stock until the desired profile/thickness is achieved - - one of many steps involved in instrument making...
Ditto David. The curved shape of a violin back is carved from solid wood, not bent. The tops, too, but those are typically made of spruce.
Cutting a log into wedge/pie shaped pieces is the most efficient way to get quartersawn lumber from the log. However, the wedged shaped pieces cannot be used for much. However, instrument makers (violins, for example) prefer these wedged shaped pieces from which to make the instruments.
Jerry
Is there a better use to these pieces. I'd hate to plane them down as an act of ignorance and use them for other things if they would be more suited for the intended purpose.
Is there a better use to these pieces.
hmmm...well, you could build a fire to save the life of a freezing person - - beyond that, there's not much higher use for wood than musical instruments...
what exactly do you have? number of pieces, size, etc - got a friend who makes violins - I wouldn't guess that the pieces have tremendous $ value, but could be desirable depending on condition/figure - -
edit to add: if you would want to trade, what do you desire? - I've got some nice figured cherry in stock...
Edited 1/13/2004 2:10:56 PM ET by David Doud
Aguita,
Here's a link on making violins.
http://www.violins.demon.co.uk/making/index.htm
This wood would be worth more to a violin maker - wood 100 years old is what they look for for it's tonal qualities. I'd sell it and buy yourself some curly maple - you'd get a lot more and this wood would go to a good home too.
Cheers,
eddie
Sell it? Is there anyone interested out there? How about a value either in cash or trade. I'm not out to make money off of it if there is someone willing to use it in the way it was intended for.
Aguita,
Try a local luthierie (sp?)
Or - look through a guitar magazine and look for timber sellers to the industry.
Cheers,
eddie
Or eBay.
You might try e-mailing North Bennett Street School in Boston, MA. They have a Violin Making & Restoration program there, 3 years I think, and such a treasure may be of tremendous value to them.
I think it is: http://www.nbss.org
Mike
The only violin maker that I've ever talked to was at Colonial Williamsburg (that was back in '77). He made it clear that the bookmatched pieces that he uses, have been drying for at least 125 years.
Sounds to me like there is some possibility that these pieces qualify!
Vast projects should not be founded on half vast ideas.
Aquita, I'd agree with the posts so far. Don't treat these quartered maple wedges frivolously, they are of value to an instrument maker.
There's an award winning violin maker in Oregon, you could e-mail him if you'd like.
[email protected]
His web page http://www.proviolins.com/
myles
Last night I went back to my parents house to do more exploring. I found about 10 to 15 of the wedges and an unknown quantity of slabs of the same maple. There may be more to be found, but I will have to wait until the weekend.
Thanks to everyone who responded. It was quite a learning experience and exciting for my grandfather especially. He could remember the original owner of the wood from about 50 years ago.
aguita,
try and keep them paired up as they're stored if it's not too late.
the wedges are bookmatched to give a violin back. (like the inkblot tests - the same pattern on both halves of the violin back)
Cheers,
eddie
Unfortunately they did not appear to be in any type of order. Perhaps previous owners had disturbed them. They were just "piled" in the rafters.
I want to emphasize what the others have said. GOOD violin wood is specially selected and can be very expensive. Please don't waste it on anything other than instruments until you have it loked at by a violin maker. It's not the age of the wood that matters, but rather its tonal qualities and appearance, and wood that an individual violin maker would find suitable is hard to get.
One of the best violin makers in the country has a shop near me in Kansas City, and he is a personal acquaintance. He has sold instruments to a number of nationally known players. If you like, I could show him a representative sample and get an idea of what it is worth, or if you have a good local maker, check with him or her.
Sorting the pieces should not be a problem. If the wedges are about 2 1/2" on the wide edge, they haven't been split yet. Most makers don't split the wedges until they are ready to start using them.
There should be some Engelmann or Sitka Spruce slabs there, too, for the fronts.
Email me at [email protected] if I can help.
Michael R
Edited 1/14/2004 3:32:41 PM ET by Woodwiz
I will have to check, but I believe that the wedges are approximately 2 1/2" thick and therefore may not have been split yet. That sounds like good news if thats the case.
As for the spruce, I can remember using some slabs of what could have been spruce when I was a kid. Probably back in my tree house building days. Hindsight is not always 20/20, but it certainly does clear things up.
Here's a picture of a locally made violin with some superb curly maple. I'ts a one piece back, rather than two, because it's a copy of a Guarneri.
Michael R.
Fabulous. I've been wondering as I read this thread if anyone makes violin backs of quilted maple, or if that's just too far outside the tradition.
Haven't seen any. I know the one I showed sounds as good as it looks. They are about as good as it gets. I think the interrupted grain of curly maple has a lot to do with the sweetness of the sound of a fiddle, but I don't know how quilted maple would affect the sound.
Michael R.
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