It is finished...

Well, my hardanger conversion is finished. I imagine there will be continued adjustments, but the instrument has strings, and it plays (possible video later). The fingerboard is in place (glued with liquid hide glue fron titebond since I didn't want to deal with boiling anything) and the sympathetic strings resonate. In short, it works.

The pegbox is full, and it was a bit of a tight fit to wind each string where it needed to go:

I ended up having to alter my plans and use the friction pegs to tune the sympathetic strings and the geared tuners to hold the primary playing strings - the tension was simply too high on the main strings to be held in place by the friction ukulele pegs. But it doesn't take much to hold the light-guage sympathetics in tune. So I have double fine-tuning capabilities on the main strings (with fine tuners at the bridge) and much less control over the sympathetics, but at least the pegs are all holding now.

Utilizing a simple solution (seen many other places) I simply drilled holes in the tailpiece, and ran the ball ends of my sympathetic strings through:

It's hard to tell in this photograph, but you can just barely see the 4 small-diameter holes I drilled for the sympathetics in the bridge as well.

I'm sure it will continue to require adjustment, but for now, I'm simply glad it's all together, and functions as an instrument.

Filling the pegbox

After spending some time grinding down the pegs to an appropriate length, I've completely filled the pegbox with the required 8 tuners. Alternating the 90 degree tuners allows for relatively easy access to all of them. I didn't even have to drill any new holes in the pegbox itself - I simply slightly bored out the existing ones to receive the metal tuners. And before you ask, yes, this increases the weight of the scroll side a bit, but hopefully it will still be easily playable.

Finishing the ink and tuners

It took me some time to finalize the designs, and then to actually execute them. The curved center bouts are particularly difficult to get a good angle. And every surface is curved, so there are some unique challenges to getting a good looking design. Add to this that I was essentially freehanding this - and trying my best to get symmetry as well... Needless to say this step took a bit of time and concentration.

After using the ink, I added a coat or two of the spar varnish over the ink to 'set' the design. Utilizing a blend of traditional and less traditional designs, I ended up with a fully 'illustrated' Hardanger:

And the back:

One of the primary logistical problems in converting a standard violin to a Hardanger fiddle is dealing with the size of the pegbox. I've seen solutions ranging from literally sawing off the scroll and replacing it with a headstock replete with a set of mandolin tuners, to using smaller pegs from an oud and trying to squeeze in 4 per side... The method I'll be attempting (and refining I'm sure) is to utilize a combination of angled/geared guitar style tuners, and small friction pegs designed for a ukulele. Hopefully by alternating both these styles I'll leave myself enough room to actually turn the pegs. I figure I'll put the main 4 strings on the friction pegs, and mainly tune with the fine tuners, and run the sympathetic strings to the geared tuners (since they'll be fixed at the tailpiece). 

Of course the side wall of a pegbox is much thinner than a headstock, so for both tuners it requires grinding them down to be substantially shorter, and to drill new holes for the strings to be wound. Though it takes a while, a regular bench grinder will do the trick.

Progress

Aside from the aesthetics, I had to begin addressing the functional aspects of the actual conversion process. This thing has to go from being a violin to a Hardanger fiddle. You'll likely notice I've left the pegbox alone to this point - it's an engineering problem waiting to be solved, but I've got several ideas. More on that later... I began by addressing the channel through which the resonant understrings will pass - marking approximately 3/32" from the edge of the neck, I used a handsaw to define the edges of my channel.

From what I've read the channel should also be about 3/32" deep - this will be mirrored by a channel carved out of the underside of the fingerboard as well. Both channels together should provide enough clearance for the sympathetic strings to resonate without being impeded.

After an evening's work with a freshly sharpened 1/2" chisel, this is what the channel looks like:

Of course a Hardanger fiddle wouldn't look authentic without the requisite Scandinavian rosemaling style ink designs. This fiddle will be a mixture of multiple designs I've found online - some from instruments over a hundred years old, and some taken from contemporary instruments. Hopefully it will come together as a cohesive whole.

I began in pencil, roughing out the designs:

To be painfully honest, this being my first build, I have made it a priority to use readily available and fairly affordable tools lest this doesn't turn out at all. To that end, I must admit to finding a super-fine tipped sharpie to be sufficient for inking in my designs:

Don't think less of me...

Adding color

After completing several coats of thinned amber shellac, the violin was ready for the first coats of varnish. As always there seem to be about a million methods and materials to add color to a violin. In the interest of continued simplicity I had elected to use some aniline dye - in this case the oil soluble variety so I could mix it with my first coat of polyurethane. I had heard good things about Ace Hardware's branded spar varnish, and decided to give it a try since it's readily available and affordable.

The color dye I ended up getting is entitled "Golden Maple" and in the images online - if built up in coats - eventually provides an even golden/brown. Since I'm going for more of a blonde-ish finish, I only added a coat or two just to counter some of the 'orange' of the amber shellac and add some brown-ish hues without actually turning the violin brown. You can see from the image at the top of the post how the color looks. It's not much different from the shellac, but just a bit deeper and richer. There are infinite gradations of color one could use, and I'm sure I'll explore that on subsequent projects, as the dye seems to stretch a ways when varnishing something this small.

The 'ground'

One of the things I love about the internet is there is an absolute abundance of information on any and every subject. One of the things that's most frustrating about the internet is there is an abundance of information on any every subject... When it comes to something as specific, technical and alchemical as violin finishing, there are nearly as many options (and lofty opinions expressed as fact) as there are violin makers. I think what I've found happens in my internet research is that I will read too much information, seeking that one simple solution that seems to ring true, and by the end of the process I'm left less with a clear set of linear steps but more of a general sense of the accepted field of 'answers' to any particular inquiry. In this case, I got a good feel for what people do at various levels of violin making, and essentially synthesized my own combination of these elements based on my experience (lack of) and desire for complexity (keep it simple please).

The first step in violin finishing, after finish sanding (or preferably scraping) the body itself is the application of the "ground" coat - a sort of sealing process for the wood. Once again I had to wade through suggestions for everything from mixtures made with egg whites (literally) to propolis soap. One relatively accepted recipe seems to be the use of shellac - a widely available and simple-to-apply substance. I found recommendations for Zinnser's Bulls Eye shellac, and I elected to use their 'amber' variety, since I appreciate the slightly 'aged' look amber tones tend to impart to wood.

Another great thing about the Zinnser shellac is you can get it at Menards or Home Depot. Following more internet reading, I cut the shellac with alcohol in a 4:1 mixture (4 parts alcohol to 1 part shellac) and started the finishing process in earnest.

After about 5-6 thinned coats, it seems to be building an actual sealing layer - the maple seems to look better than the spruce, though that could be partially due to my sanding as well...

Note that to this point no actual 'color' has been applied (that comes in the varnishing stage) but only the amber of the shellac is in play. Here's the maple back:

A beginning...

I should begin by stating for the record that I am not a violin player. Nor am I a woodworker, per se. I am an artist and musician and filmmaker (see www.NowTheMorning.com for details). Growing up and living in Minnesota, along with the air you breathe you acquire a certain Scandinavian awareness. Being Swedish and Norwegian in heritage myself, and living in a place that celebrates these same roots, it has been easy to be inspired by Scandinavian music and traditions. With the advent of global communication, it has also been an inspiration to find documentation of several people modifying basic and readily available instruments to make them more closely resemble and function as a Hardanger Fiddle, most notably the stories found here: http://dennishavlena.com/hardangr.htm http://feedbacksolo.wordpress.com http://www.fiddlehangout.com/archive/979 http://ecotonalinstruments.blogspot.com/2011/11/hardanger-project.html
 I enjoy working with my hands and being creative, and after some further research and deliberation I decided attempt the project, and placed an order for one of the many available pre-assembled violins 'in-the-white.' You can find these everywhere from the International Violin Company to ebay, and they generally can be had for around $50 (2013 pricing) having been mass produced in some factory - often in China (by Song Chung Musical Instrument Co. for example). I've seen these advertised as great pieces on which to practice your finishing techniques (the art of violin finishing apparently being a somewhat incomprehensible mix of fine art, alchemy, and outright chemistry).

Though it doesn't appear there is much difference, I ended up ordering through Amazon - and within a week a blank-slate of a violin was delivered to my rural home. Again I am not a violin player (or instrument maker) so I can't give a truly professional appraisal, but the instrument appeared to be what you might expect for such a small entry fee.

It seems solidly put together, and the sound post is even still in place. Of course there are some spots that will need additional scraping/sanding - the purfing (especially on the back) has a few less-than-perfect areas, and the grain on the spruce top gets a little torn-out looking around the lower portion of the body.

There's no real quilting or figuring of any kind on the bookmatched maple back, but that's fine since I'll be scrawling Scandinavian designs all over it anyway...

I wasn't expecting something that would pass for antique Cremonese craftsmanship, and for now I think this particular canvas will be sufficient to allow me to experiment without fear of destroying something priceless.