Posts from — January 2009

Project Update 01/24/09 (Instruments)

by Alex Sobolev

Recently, I met with local violin maker Joseph Curtin. He has invited me to collaborate with him on several projects including the design and development of a next generation electric violin. Mr. Curtin briefly mentions the electric violin project in this YouTube video, and this video features a deeper discussion of his work designing modern violins. Working with Joseph is a very exciting opportunity for me, and will keep all of you (chuckle) up to date.

To celebrate the new opportunity, I got out my bench plane, clamps, and wood glue and began building a six string cigar box ukulele. After three days of work the instrument is about half way complete.

Neck Block: Walnut laminated with maple veneer and a strip of mahogany

Layout for the fret slots, neck taper, and V-joint

The fret spacing past the 12th fret was too close together. My solution was to use inlaid maple veneer instead of fret wire.

The head stock is walnut with a maple/cedar/maple veneer laminate between each piece. There is also a rather large knot at the top of the head.

Still some work left.

Before building, I modeled the piece in rhino to figure out the fret scale and the amount of materials I would need.

January 22, 2009 No Comments

Project Update 01/22/09 (Papercraft)

by Alex Sobolev

New paper form! This model is testing a new tabbed construction method. With stiffer paper it would be possibile to build this without any glue.

January 22, 2009 No Comments

Project Update 01/21/09 (Papercraft)

by Alex Sobolev

The year is going well. I have a few piad projects on my plate and I am still developing a few things on my own time. The first attempt of making a sewn veneer form was a failure. An aesthetic failure that exposed a ton of structural factors that I had not considered.

The veneer tends to crack when the grain is short. I have a few solutions in mind, including steam bending each piece before sewing them together.