And Now, For Something Completely Different

Between commissions for instruments and various repairs, I always have several projects going on in my shop at once. In this case, this lovely cigar box is about to become my next fiddle.

The person who commissioned me to build this also requested photographs of the process. No problem, says I. So here they are in my blog.

You're likely to notice right off the bat how much faster this project moves along than my other fiddle. Until I get to the neck, anyways.


So I'll start out with the blocks to support the neck and tailpiece. This one chunk of spruce is about to be turned into both blocks, with some scrap left over.






But notice when I go to put the blocks in, they overlap with this bit of paper on the edge. This is a common problem in cigar-box instruments. So common, in fact, that it doesn't phase me anymore. I just cut away the paper as shown, to make room.



The next step is to cut out the f-holes.

I lay these out so that the notches will indicate the bridge position and the upper lobes are 42mm away from one another (the width of the bridge feet). There's still something missing, though. Because the top lacks an arch, it doesn't have the inherent strength of an actual violin. So in order to reinforce it, I glue in some cross-braces, along with a shortened (though probably unnecessary) bass bar. Here's what my box looks like with the braces glued in, after I've shaped them.

Now I have to remove lots of the paper from the insides of the sides so that I can glue kerfing on. This will give me a larger gluing surface on which to glue the back.


Speaking of the wily back, there's not only paper to remove from it, but lacquer as well. I scrape off the paper, then sand away the lacquer, being careful to keep the surface level and without divots so that I'll have a consistent gluing surface. I also use a flat file to level the kerfing and blocks to a flat, consistent surface.

That's a lot of pictures, but the process doesn't take nearly as long as, say a violin. This point in the construction process, when the top and back are both glued on to the rib assembly, is called "closing the box," and is a sort of milestone towards the completion of most instruments. As of today, I have closed the box on both the cigar box fiddle and the violin. The cigar box fiddle took me a grand total of five working hours to close. The violin took fifty-one and a half. Which is actually not bad. On Tuesday, I'll be starting the necks for both fiddles.