All Technical articles – Page 2
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Custom crack-levelling clamps made with 3D printing
A new way to glue cracks without the aid of a mould
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Fitting a marquetry inlay
A guide to adding a unique, personalised touch to an instrument front or back
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Premium ❘ FeatureSmall violas: does size matter?
Luthiers Bas Maas and Francesco Piasentini report on a series of experiments in Villefavard, France, seeking to discover conclusively whether small violas can produce sound as ‘big’ as larger models
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1705 violin by Giovanni Battista Rogeri
Julian Hersh examines an instrument made only a few years before the Brescian maker’s death
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Premium ❘ FeatureBridge acoustics: the invisible bridge
Is it possible to simulate the effects of bridge adjustment in a computer? Physicist Jim Woodhouse presents the results of a series of experiments to demonstrate the possibilities
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Creating neck graft sockets – part two
The second of two articles shows the completion of this intricate and sometimes tricky process
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1659 violin by Nicolò Amati
Colin Adamson examines a mid-17th-century violin by the revered Cremonese maker
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1942 violin by Arturo Fracassi
Leonardo Cella examines the mid-century instrument by the Italian maker
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Creating neck graft sockets – part one
The first of two articles on this topic gives a full and thorough account of casting a scroll and pegbox
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Sharpening gouges
A practical method for maintaining the sharpness of this essential tool for all makers
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Tips for tricky bow rehairs
Practical techniques to overcome common challenges in bow rehairing
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: An 1859 violin by Gulbrand Enger
Jens Stenz takes a look at the Danish maker’s 19th-century instrument
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Replacement of pearl eyes in a bow
Sarah Bystrom shares a method for a common task in bow restoration that respects the intention and style of the maker
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1753 viola by Carlo Antonio Testore
Sean Bishop takes a look at a relatively rare example of an 18th-century Italian viola
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: A 1923 violin by Michael Dötsch
Rainer Michael Cocron examines an early 20th-century instrument by the German maker
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade secrets: External crack repair using silk
Sharon Que provides an innovative solution to a common – and tricky – repair problem
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Premium ❘ FeatureHard and fast rules: tonewood selection
What should luthiers look for when selecting spruce for their next violin top? Jiri Povolny examines the variables and discovers some useful guidelines to take out the guesswork
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: Varnish retouch
A method for layering pigments and shellac to reproduce the exact colour and thickness of an instrument’s varnish
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Premium ❘ FeatureIn Focus: An 1893 violin by Alexander Smillie
David Rattray presents a late 19th-century violin by the Scottish maker
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Premium ❘ FeatureTrade Secrets: The ‘Doratura Cremonese’ ground method
How to make and apply a ground coat with a deep golden yellow colour
