How to Make a Violin
Step by step instructions
by William Bartruff, Violin Maker
Foreword
If you want to make a violin (or viola for that matter), the first thing you will need is to find one to copy. Instead of copying a cheap factory violin, I recommend reproducing a violin done by the one of the great, old Italian master makers such as Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737) or Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu (1698-1744) or any of the myriad makers working in northern Italy through the golden period of violin making (in my opinion, approximately 1560 through 1800). In this way, you will be imitating a great violin rather than a poor one.
Please see the list of what you will need for this project at the end of these instructions. Also, I have used both US customary units and metric units in this guide. Since metric units are more precise, please familiarize yourself with the difference. Also, please note that the quote symbol (") means inch which is approximately 25.4 millimeters (mm) or 2.54 centimeters (cm) and the hash symbol (#) means number.
1. Outlines and Measurements
Now that you have a violin to copy, let us begin. You will need to acquire the outlines of the body, sound holes and scroll and measurements of the entire instrument. So for the first step, get a piece of tracing paper that will give you the space you need to make your outline for the body. A 17" x 10" piece should do nicely.
Slice a 6" X in the center of the paper to ease the arch of the back through the paper and make it easier to make the outline. Place the piece of paper on a soft surface so as not to harm the violin then place the violin length wise on the paper.
Now, draw around it with a sharp #2 pencil being very careful not to let the violin move on you. If you can get someone to help hold the violin in place, it will make this step a little easier. Once you have the body outline completed, take a bit of scotch tape and tape the X shut.
Next take a piece of 10" x 10" tracing paper to use for drawing the sound holes, or f's. If the bridge is off the violin, this will facilitate the drawing. If not, take the piece of paper and cut it in two, one for each side and place over the f's lengthwise. Use a very dull #2 pencil and very lightly, with the side face of the pencil, rub over the first f until an impression is made--something like making a penny show through with the same method. Do the same to the other f to get the other image. You might ask why not just use the first f in reverse to make the second f. But usually the old Italian makers did not cut their f's uniformly. So if you want to make an exact copy, you will need both drawings.
The last drawing is of the neck and scroll. If the pegs in the scroll can be removed from one side, then you can lay the scroll side ways on a piece of paper and trace around it. If not, take measurements of every aspect and transfer to a sheet of graph paper. In either case, for the rear and front section of the scroll use a piece of tracing paper to do a rubbing much the same way as you did the f's. Only this time, wrap a strip of the paper around the scroll and do the rubbing.
Next, on a separate sheet of paper, get the measurements of the entire violin beginning with the neck. You will need to measure the width of the neck at the join of the body and at the nut where the strings travel over to enter the peg box. Next measure the height of the ribs at the neck, the C's and the saddle. If you have drawn the scroll rather than traced it, you will have all the measurements of the scroll completed; if not, measure it now. Finally, measure the length of the stop, which is the distance from near the neck to the notch in the f's where the bridge sits, allowing for the arch.