World class service in a boutique setting.

The question about using cling film came up. Yes,

The question about using cling film came up. Yes, I retouch up on top to check the color. I got this trick from David Burgess years ago. It’s super useful in getting comfortable with what a coating or series of coatings. There’s little fear in screwing up when you experiment. I’ve literally spent days painting on top of plastic. To be fair, it’s not the same as painting on top of wood. However, when you are unsure of where to start, or what to add, it’s great. #jhlviolins #varnishretouching #varnish

It’s Monday (is it Monday???) I’m getting read

It’s Monday (is it Monday???) I’m getting ready to ship this thing. There are 12k photos on my phone... I tell every repairer/restorer I know going into business for themselves to take photos of absolutely everything. Not only does it help getting other jobs, but it keeps your sanity in check. 3 AM is a hell of a time to think about what your working on, but it happens. Having the ability to judge dispassionately how you are doing from a photo, away from your work, is golden. Particularly when you are adjusting the color of wood and retouching. That’s what these photos are for, for me. If you get something out of this, great!
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The heel pieces where adjusted with sodium nitrite. (Don’t be like me and use a bigger piece on the bottom, it’s a lot easier 🙄). Followed by a greenish tea stain and then instant coffee. The lines and wood replacement were further concealed with water colors and an inktense pencil. Top coat was a series of yellows to get a weak orange. Often oranges are a combination of many layers of yellow.
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Cling film is brilliant for experimenting. You can paint on it all day and figure things out.
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Materials used: Sodium Nitrite 5% solution, alcohol tea tincture, Star Bucks Via instant coffee. W&N Naples yellow, Davy’s Grey, Burnt Umber, Payne’s Grey. Derwent Inktense Madder Brown pencil. Color coat -
Lake of Reseda, French Ocre and @oldwood1700 Golden yellow alcohol color. #jhlviolins #neckreset #retouching #violinrepair #luthiery #violin

Today’s overly artsy workshop pic: tanning new w

Today’s overly artsy workshop pic: tanning new wood additions to a neck heel. #neckreset #tanning #uvlight #jhlviolins #violin #luthiery #workbench #whatsonyourbench

There are three basic kinds of grinds you can use

There are three basic kinds of grinds you can use to sharpen tools, flat grind, hollow grind and prison grind. This is an example of the third. It was done pretty haphazardly, every time I use it, I feel like I’m gonna go take somebody out. It’s a Japanese marking knife that has been ground into a thumbnail shape. I got the idea from for years ago from Oded Kishony. It’s super useful in picking out bumps... a quasi idiot chisel. #luthiery #violin #jhlviolins #violinrepair #violinrestoration #japaneseknife #neckreset

This is an unfinished thought, I’m throwing it o

This is an unfinished thought, I’m throwing it out into the wild in the hope that it might grow into something more. I purely did this as a proof of concept. It’s not for everyone, a quite probably and honestly overly complicated for the casual user.
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I strongly dislike making spiral bushings. I’ve tried nearly every method known. Nothing suits me, so I decided to try to invent a better way for myself. This will work as a straight fiber/spiral bushing, but I think it would be a better method of incorporating carbon fiber, Kevlar, or phenolic into a bushing for an extremely strong and very conservative reinforcement.
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The counter form was 3d printed in PLA, but it could just as easily have been drilled into wood (packing tape prevents sticking of glue.) Brown craft paper soaked with tightbond one was then wound around a 3mm dowel and compressed with the counter-forms. The compressed paper blanks were then glued into pockets in soft wood. This was to help fixture them for milling. Drilling the center allows for centering on the stock as well as a pilot for the drill/reamer. Drawing a bushing in @adskfusion360 is extremely easy, set the base diameter as a circle in sketch and extrude to an appropriate distance with a negative 1 degree taper (that’s what a 1 in 30 taper is). The compressed paper milled out very easily with a standard 2 flute end mill.
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The end result is very strong, though still requires some back reaming. With careful planning, CF or Kevlar could easily be incorporated. I just did some quick and dirty retouching to satisfy my curiosity. Anyway, thanks for sticking through reading this! #jhlviolins #digitalluthiery #rolandmdx50 #unimatsl1000 #3dprinting #violin #violinrepair #violinrestoration #bushing #paper #cnc

I was just thinking about this tonight...Small thi

I was just thinking about this tonight...Small thing that was part of a big thing from a few months ago. I don’t usually show these sorts of pics much anymore just because they all start to look the same. But, this is probably the least aggressive fix to post damage I’ve ever done. It held up just fine after a bunch of adjustments, and is still doing fine. Ring caused by dampit flood. Last photo included just for kicks. #jhlviolins #violin #digitalluthiery #rolandmdx50 #cnc #desktopmanufacturing #violinrestoration #soundpost #3dscanning

Sound on... so satisfying, and always slightly ter

Sound on... so satisfying, and always slightly terrifying. Steaming out divots. #jhlviolins #steam #violin #violinrepair #luthiery #violinrestoration

A lot of my colleagues are going to say “yes, of

A lot of my colleagues are going to say “yes, of course, I’ve been doing that for years.” But for those who haven’t seen this: Single edge razor blades are super useful in trimming fill varnish on convex or flat areas of an arch... safety though is always a concern, simple tape can limit the amount of the blade exposed and reduce much of the risk to the surrounding varnish. File under “stuff I stole from guitar luthiers.” (Frank Ford’s website) #fillvarnish #retouching #violinrestoration #luthier #luthiery #violin #jhlviolins #razorblades #violinrepair

Microscope, coffee... check and check. The will t

Microscope, coffee... check and check. The will to begin tricky retouch job? That might be lacking 🤣...
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I always wondered what the view of the microscope looks like from the violin’s perspective. Looks a little like something from Wall-E. #jhlviolins #microscope #luthier #workbench #violin #violinrepair

I hope everyone is having as good of a holiday sea

I hope everyone is having as good of a holiday season as is possible this year.
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A small PSA for string players: be careful buying and using products that have glitter in them. It’s literally everywhere... and unfortunately in some hand sanitizers. After using, it will often transfer to the instrument. Shown is a late 18th century English violin with glitter starting to work its way into the varnish. I have a feeling 2021 is going to be the year of being pissed at glitter. There is no great way of removing it aside from picking out each piece. It will often burrow into softer varnishes. I was reminded of this photo this past week by both greeting cards, and hand sanitizer... anyway, happy practicing and wash your hands! #glitter #violin #microplastics #luthiery #violinrepair #varnish

Who’s a cute little clamping caul?#jhlviolins #p

Who’s a cute little clamping caul?#jhlviolins #prusamini #digitalluthiery #3dprinting #cello #violinrepair

Doing final documentation before finally getting t

You should see what the vanity and toilet looked l

You should see what the vanity and toilet looked like before I ripped them out too... woof. A lot of similarities between old houses and old instruments. Fortunately, you’ll never need to replace the sewer lateral on an old cello. #thisoldcello #cello #luthier #violinrepair #demolition

This maybe incredibly boring, and my older friends

This maybe incredibly boring, and my older friends and colleagues might be saying “Jerry, wtf?” But, as we move into another period of extended social distancing, I thought it might be useful to share how I work at a distance... which is how I’ve been working since before it was cool/necessary.
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The bulk of my clients are players, often they aren’t even in the same state as me. I might only see them at the end for pick up, or in some instances, not at all. I find the process goes much more smoothly if I take the time to explain what is wrong with their instrument, and the course of action needed to fix it with photo examples of past jobs. This often requires defining terms, showing how things are measured, or drawing simple diagrams. This gets placed into a report of sorts and emailed along with the estimate. For me, it’s been worth the time to make sure that both the owner and I are on the same page. This all gets followed up with texts and emails of progress to keep the dialogue going. #workingatadistance #violinrestoration #luthiery #violinrestorer #digitalluthiery #violinrepair #violin #viola #cello #jhlviolins

Thank you all who attended my @violinsocietyofamer

Thank you all who attended my @violinsocietyofamerica convention question and answer session on “an introduction to 3D scanners and CNC routers in violin restoration.” It was a privilege to be able to be part of the virtual convention. The ethos that has been beaten into me by my mentors is now more true than it ever has been: A rising tide raises all ships. #jhlviolins #structuredlightscanning #digitalluthiery #violinrestoration #rolandmdx50 #cncmachining #cadcam #3dscanning

This job has been floating around on my feed for a

This job has been floating around on my feed for a while... I think I’m finally ready to “tap out,” or cry “uncle” and move on to set up😂. It’s always daunting redoing previous repair work. It’s even more daunting when it’s.... well, weird.
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This graft was “keyed” into the pegbox. All of the material on the bass side in the keyed area was replacement. Fortunately, the section on the treble side was a veneer of original material that had been placed on top. Cutting into this was surreal, I didn’t know how far the new material went. So, in the case of the bass side, I opted to fill the hole before proceeding.
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Remember, friends don’t let friends do keyed grafts. #jhlviolins #neckgraft #viola #luthier #violinrestoration #violinrepair #whatsonyourbench #digitalluthiery

Another random workshop scene: about to trim fill

Another random workshop scene: about to trim fill varnish on the joints of a through patch. #jhlviolins #viola #violinrepair #violinrestoration #resins #rakinglight #luthier

Random workshop scene. #luthier #violin #tinfoil

Random workshop scene. #luthier #violin #tinfoil #flamedmaple #whatsonyourbench #pegbox

About time for a tan and some paint. This thing l

About time for a tan and some paint. This thing looks like my legs in shorts.... #neckgraft #timeforatan #luthiery #viola #violinrepair .
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Have y’all registered for the virtual VSA convention? If not, do it.

Clips from my @violinsocietyofamerica virtual conv

Clips from my @violinsocietyofamerica virtual convention presentation that I just submitted today... please go register! I’m pretty sure this is the first VSA presentation in the organizations history that someone has mentioned Hal 9000 and the Terminator in😏. #violinsocietyofamerica #violinrestoration #jhlviolins #digitalluthiery

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