You really are multi-talented. You carved that dragon head? I'm impressed.

-Aero-

Thanks! I carved it with a knife and a few gouges. I drew the design onto a scroll template as a profile, traced onto my block of wood, cut it out on a bandsaw and then just started carving. The only thing that relates to the original drawing is the face. Everything behind the cheeks, all the hair and draped fabric, was an afterthought. So were the scrolls on the top of the head. This was my first scroll to have a fully carved wooden mouth, and the first to have a closed jaw. My other figurehead scrolls all have ivory teeth and open mouths with dark wood tongues. I also inlay gems into the dragons eyes. This violin really looks great all finished up. I even inlaid a feathered Tomohawk made out of brass into the tailpeice (where the strings are held near the bottom)

My boss wanted me to make this next violin with a regular scroll, so I am working on that currently as far as carvings.

And Roa continues to impress me with her creativity. I like the multicolored one, it looks almost whimsical. You are truly gifted.

(Edit), duh, its the same violin.

Wow. Those designs are really intricate. I mean, I play the cello and I wonder if it's possible to make a cello with that dragon head scroll. Heck, what am I saying? Of course it's possible, but it's just harder to make a cello than a violin. Nice work. Great design. Nice use of the pegs. 10/10 . I'm just joking, as you can clearly state by my little friend's position. But it is kind of a MOC, with the dragon heads and all.

~Typhlok the ANNOYer~

I haven't gotten the chance to carve a cello scroll yet, but I seem to rememeber that the folks who want to buy my bosses cello #49 (not made yet) wants one of my carved figure scrolls on it. I can't wait to see if it really happens. Last time I got to work with a big chunk of wood was a tiger scroll I carved on a Viola da Gamba that belongs to my bosses lady.

Thats cool that you play the cello. I wanted to play cello when I was young, but ended up playing viola instead because of cello costs. Mom couldn't afford it LOL. I still play viola to this day in a local orchestra.

You definitely have some skill, but alas, the last pic of the dragon looks like it has a ponytail LOL.

How long did it take you?

~~

I worked on and off on this violin over the course of a year. And yes, the dragon does have hair, and it was hard as heck to carve too. Its hard to capture the true depth of the carving in a picture

Yowza! That's amazing. I can't believe how thin the wood veneer is...

I wish I had your job.

-BC

Wow. Very impressive. You are very talented.

There really is no true "veneer" on a violin BCii. The closest thing that would come to that are the ribs of the violin, which were ripcut off a block of wood, then thinned to 1 millimeter. The top and back of the instrument are carved with planes from a solid block of wood. You can use arching templates to help define the arch, but alot of it is just using your eye and your hands to see or feel any bumps. It's really a great feeling to see your work turn into something like this, especially when you get into the final stages as shown in these pictures.

The decorative strip along the edge on the finished violin is called purfling. Its usually made of ebony and holly sandwiched together, but they use high grade carbon materials now for the black, as it is more color consistent and easier to bend. That stuff is interesting to install, because you have to use a special knife to mark the edges so you can cut out the wood in those grooves to inlay the purfling. The point I did at the neck button was freehand, as the edge knife cant do that.

I really enjoyed making this violin. The varnish was fun to apply, as I have never antiqued a violin before this one. I purposely made it look old by scratching up the varnish and removing color, then adding black paint and rubbing it into all the ridges I made. I also used my knife handle to make dents, and I made artificial cracks as well. This violin is in super sound condition, even though it looks old and beat up.

As far as the sound, I have ben told that this one is my best. A good friend of mine always makes a comment on how much he loves it every time he talks to me, or comes into the shop. I've had some people interested in buying it too, so I am crossing my fingers, cause $4,000 would be REALLY nice to have right now.......

I'm gad you all like my work! I'll take some pics of this new one as it progresses, so y'all can get a taste for what it takes to make a violin!

Okay, wow...

That's AMAZING.

I love the dragon head and the little curly designs.

That is AWESOME.

You own. =D

Thats so cool. I wish someone could do that with my violin and viola. oh man, if you could do that kind of stuff to the electric violin i want...man that would be the coolest thing on this planet.