Purfling completed as well as F holes and Bass Bar

In the last few weeks I completed the purfling on both the top and back. I also completed carving the F holes. They look ok. I think they could be better with some practice. The bass bar was also added to the top.

Below are some clamps I made to hold  the bassbar while gueing.

This is a shot of the attached bassbar.

Viola Purfling

I recently cut the purfling channel in the maple back. I purchased the purfling from International Violin company.

I cut the channel using an Ibex perfling marker, a utility knife and a perfling pick from Diefenbacher tool.

Below is the Ibex purfling marker.

I set the marker about 4mm in from the edge and put a piece of purfling between the blades to set the width. This worked out great. I am starting to mark the spruce, but the end grain seems to be falling off. I am going to search the web for ideas.

Viola arching and plate graduating

The last few days i have been completing the arching in both the top plate as well as the maple back. Below are some photos.

The back plate is on my impromptu carving jig.

This is the ribs sitting on top of the back.

 This is a view of the arching of the back. I made a number of arching templates based on the Amati poster. I also made a arching gauge to see how the arching looks and how even it is for lack of better words.

More Finger Plane fun

So I ended up highly modifying my plane. I rounded the sole and made a brass wedge. I tapped an 8-32 hole and put in a pan head screw. Works great!! I will probably make a few more in different sizes.

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Here is an updated picture of my 3 planes.

Finger planes

Inorder to do much of the shaping of the plates I needed to make some finger planes. I used hard maple for the insole. The sides/rails were made of walnut scraps that I had around from making the backsaw. 

The finger plane pictured below was my first attempt. It cuts well, but I needed to refine the design.

Below is my second attempt. I gave this one an oval outline. For both planes I reused a 1/2" chisel that I cut the blade off. Photos are a little blurry because I took them with my iPhone. The red pen is there to give a sense of scale.

Top plate

Cut my outline from the spruce I bought from old world tonewood. Loads of work left to do.

I amusing the Amati bros poster as a guide  for the arching. I have made templates for the arching from the back of the poster. After completing arching in the next 2 weeks, I will start graduating the top.

The Spruce was purchased from Old World Tonewood. The logo can be seen on the top plate.

Viola scroll

I started cutting and carving the scroll and neck to the viola. Here are some shots. It is a maple neck, as is standard. I am designing for a 148mm neck, with about 10-12mm overstand. The scroll is from the strad poster of the 1620 Amati viola.


I basically took the sketch from the back of the poster, scaled it to size and used it as a guide for where to cut. I will have to clean this up with gouges and scrapers.