Behind the bench
How a handmade violin is built.
Two hundred hours of work, spread across eight or nine months, condensed into seven moments at the bench in Torre del Mar.
- 01
Selecting the wood
Tonewood is chosen years in advance — Alpine spruce for the top, flamed maple from the Balkans for the back, ribs and scroll. Each billet is tapped, weighed and aged before it ever meets a gouge.
Stacked billets of Alpine spruce and flamed European maple aging on a workshop shelf.
- 02
Carving the plates
Top and back plates are roughed out with a gouge, then graduated to thicknesses that vary by tenths of a millimetre. Tap tones guide the final voicing — the wood tells you when it's right.
Half-carved spruce violin top with a curl of shaving on the bench beside a finger plane.
- 03
Bending the ribs
Maple ribs are bent over a heated iron, one shape at a time, then glued to corner and end blocks on the mould. The garland defines the body — every following step depends on its accuracy.
Luthier bending a maple rib over a hot bending iron in the Torre del Mar workshop.
- 04
Cutting the scroll
The scroll is carved entirely by hand from a single block of maple. It's the maker's signature — every turn, every chamfer, every fluting cut left visible.
Hand-carved violin scroll in flamed maple held up to natural light.
- 05
Fitting the bass bar
The bass bar is fitted to the underside of the top in perfect contact, sprung with a slight tension. It carries the low end of the instrument's voice and supports the bridge foot for a century or more.
Spruce bass bar being chalk-fitted to the inside of a violin top plate.
- 06
Varnishing
A yellow ground seals the wood, then oil varnish is built up in many thin coats over weeks. Each layer is dried in sunlight on the workshop terrace before the next is brushed on.
Violin body with golden-brown oil varnish drying in afternoon sunlight on a stand.
- 07
Setup and voicing
Soundpost, bridge, nut and pegs are cut and fitted to the finished body. The instrument is strung, played in, and adjusted by ear until it speaks freely under the bow.
Finished violin with newly cut bridge and ebony fittings ready for final adjustment.
Want to see it in person?
The workshop welcomes visitors by appointment. Hear the difference between a fresh varnish coat and a cured one, and try instruments at different stages of the bench.