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Please note this is an archived topic, so it is locked and unable to be replied to. You may, however, start a new topic and refer to this topic with a link: http://www.fiddlehangout.com/archive/57099
fiddler135 - Posted - 09/11/2022: 02:59:06
I have a one piece back that is graduated to what should be its final thicknesses but the back is still too heavy. I’m addition the wood has 2 strips of very hard (and dark) wood running through it. One at the upper end of the center bout, the other at the upper end of the lower bout, both running side to side. At times during carving I had to drive the gouge with a mallet. Have any of you had this problem, and if so, did you compensate for the change in density by thinning the hard places as though the density and stiffness were directly related? i.e. make it half as thick where you thought it was twice as hard and heavy?
kjb - Posted - 09/12/2022: 05:02:56
are you using hard maple ? I use softer red maple, it is the closest to european maple in density I believe.
fiddler135 - Posted - 09/12/2022: 06:24:12
quote:
Originally posted by kjbare you using hard maple ? I use softer red maple, it is the closest to european maple in density I believe.
It is European maple. I got it from international violin (15-20 years ago). I have some local red maple -from a blow down- but this is not it. The hard strips are darker, and just seem to be a part of the curly maple figure, until you start in with a gouge.
The Violin Beautiful - Posted - 09/12/2022: 21:03:45
If you can’t carve without a mallet, your tools are way too dull! Get them sharp and you’ll find that the hard grain is more workable than you’ve thought. The deeper the figure in the wood, the trickier it can be to work. The old Mirecourt makers used long gouges and could rough out a top in as little as 15 minutes. David Burgess and a number of other good makers do this today, and it really comes down to having the right tool and the proper setup of the blade to do the work efficiently.
kjb - Posted - 09/13/2022: 04:33:51
i think the tree pulled in some minerals , that is what makes the hard spots, but cant
remember for sure
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