Lord Wilton Ribs and Plates

My law practice has been extremely busy lately (in fact, the office is moving to an expanded location), so progress on my Lord Wilton model violin has been slower than expected. Nonetheless, progress has been made. I have shaped the blocks and bent the ribs:

I have also bent and glued in the linings:

Here is the almost completed rib structure -- only trimming the ribs to height and some cleanup work remain:

I have also joined the wood for the top and back plates of the violin:

Next steps are to trace and cut the outline of the top and back plates, and then to start arching the plates.

Starting My Next Violin

With the Oberlin workshops over, it is time to return to the workshop and begin work on my next violin, which will be based upon the 1742 "Lord Wilton" violin by Guarneri del Gesu. The Lord Wilton violin was played by the famous violinist Lord Yehudi Menuhin. Unlike with my Ole Bull violin, however, I don't intend to strictly stick to copying the details of the original Lord Wilton. For example, the original Lord Wilton has a one piece back plate, while I intend to use a two piece back plate.

My work on the Lord Wilton has barely begun -- only the rough blocks are glued to the rib form:

So, lots of work to do, starting with shaping the blocks and bending and gluing the ribs to the blocks. I'm looking forward to another exciting project!