I was having so much fun looking through Brian Derber's new Violin Making book, trying familiar things in different ways, that I forgot I was making a Hardanger fiddle and not a regular violin. I woke up one morning on the weekend, suddenly thinking about those different, overlapping Hardanger f-holes, how high they were, when, dang! I have been arching the middle section as normal. I quickly laid out the ff's and determined that I had, for me, gone too far. Maybe someone who had made Hardangers before could see there was enough wood left, maybe not. For me, I needed a fresh start.
So, I joined another set of spruce halves on Monday. On Tuesday, flattened the inner surface, then traced the outline, sawed it out, cleaned it up a bit and took down the edges, leaving the piece nice and fat in the center.
The new top is at top in this photo, the previous version below, with typical f-holes drawn in place. I can salvage that top for a new fiddle. The overhang is still a little wide, and if I'm careful with the corner blocks, using the same mould, I should be in good shape, even a little ahead on that one.
Wednesday, I pondered over the Hardanger holes, using a few resources I've gathered up. Not much really on the placement of the holes themselves, so I did the best I could, closed my eyes, and plunged a few holes.
Today, Thursday, I started cutting wood around the arc of the stems. Trying to follow Salve Håkedal's nicely illustrated tutorial.
I look forward to seeing how the hardingfele progresses.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
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