This website publicizes my research and the experimentation with making replicas of the “FE-18”, a guitar that was built in 1864 by Antonio de Torres.
Most of the research took place in 2010 and 2011, and the making of and experimenting with the replicas has been going on ever since. The results of the research are a set of technical drawings that can be purchased here, and a 3D-CT scan of the original instrument that is still under evaluation.
News from the workbench: Success with the wheatear motif, at last!
An extensive process of the replication process and experimentation can be found here.
The most recent pictures I uploaded describe the refining of “the wheatear motif part III” and the rosette assembly. The process description can be found at the very bottom of this page.
This website publicizes my research and the experimentation with making replicas of the “FE-18”, a guitar that was built in 1864 by Antonio de Torres.
Most of the research took place in 2010 and 2011, and the making of and experimenting with the replicas has been going on ever since. The results of the research are a set of technical drawings that can be purchased here, and a 3D-CT scan of the original instrument that is still under evaluation.
News from the workbench: Refining the wheatear motif
An extensive process of the replication process and experimentation can be found here.
The most recent pictures I uploaded describe the refining of “the wheatear motif part III”, which will hopefully be the ideal method to make this type of inlay. The process description can be found at the very bottom of this page.
This website publicizes my research and the experimentation with making replicas of the “FE-18”, a guitar that was built in 1864 by Antonio de Torres.
Most of the research took place in 2010 and 2011, and the making of and experimenting with the replicas has been going on ever since. The results of the research are a set of technical drawings that can be purchased here, and a 3D-CT scan of the original instrument that is still under evaluation.
An extensive process of the replication process and experimentation can be found here. Keep in mind that this section is still growing as the process is still underway, and getting updated regularly.
…to my website about researching historical guitars, specifically the FE18 by Antonio de Torres. Most recently, I uploaded a short 3D-CT sequence that shows much of the guitar interior. You can find the video on the bottom of this page.
Much of my research and work on this project is still underway; fortunately I have had an ever increasing amount of work in repairing, building and teaching during the last year. So I have very little time to dedicate to this fascinating project right now, I hope you understand.
I will be presenting some of my research at the “Future of the Guitar workshop & lecture series” at Parsons The New School in New York in June. The exact date is yet to be announced.
When people ask me how much patience and precision a luthier needs, or what skills one needs to have, my answer was usually something like “just pay attention to the details and don’t be sloppy” or “good instrument makers just know how to hide their mistakes”. Let me explain: I used to feel that a luthier’s dedication to precision was a bit overrated, since I still make mistakes (no joke). However, I think now that I had simply forgotten just how much we instrument makers do in fact obsess with precision – until earlier this week when I was planing a piece of Ebony that will become part of the rosette of a Torres Replica.
After having sharpened my hand plane blade to something that most woodworkers would consider so sharp you start bleeding by looking at it (to a luthier it was more like “pretty sharp”), I started thinning out a piece of ebony that I had previously resawn from a solid block of ebony and then rough-thicknessed with my table saw. After creating a few shavings at the finest setting possible, I started realizing that I had just cut ebony shavings which were so thin they were getting transparent.
Yes, light going through ebony, I am not making this up. So I immediately took a picture, and I was amused at the fact that I had recently considered myself “not-so-meticulous”. This shaving on my workbench was witness that I still perfectly fit the stereotype of the precision-obsessed meticulous luthier (keep in mind that I am also German, which supposedly has something to do with precision work;)). I suppose the fact that I am constantly surrounded by measurements in tenths and fiftieths of a Millimeter numbed my perception a bit – I simply started assuming this degree of detail is normal and encountered in most other professions as well.
So there you have it, I admit: I am just as obsessed about precision and detail as people always say luthiers are. And I guess I can be proud of it. Finally, last but not least – a picture for you. Starring: very thin ebony, the instigator of reflection and acceptance.
Ebony shavings, created while making 0.7mm veneer for a rosette.
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The idiom “the devil is in the details” derives from the earlier phrase, “God is in the detail”; expressing the idea that whatever one does should be done thoroughly; i.e. details are important. (form Wikipedia)
Both of the phrases above prove themselves true many times over in instrument making. Today I would like to focus on why it is the devil that is found in the detail. Specifically how the devil is in the absence of a backing veneer.
When this saying is used in German (“Der Teufel steckt im Detail”), one generally refers to something small that has been overseen (or ignored), which in turn leads to a whole bunch of problems which could have been avoided. I must admit that I wasn’t always focused on detail, and I sometimes felt that thorough and precise work was something reserved for the meticulous and pedantic mind. But suprise surprise, during my career I have begun to accept and even love the attention to detail. Seriously.
Wheatear Motif - building process
When I was recently working on the materials for the rosette pattern in my Torres replicas, I was studying and learning new techniques. Whereas bracing patterns and wood selection are an ever-present topic in guitarmaker’s schools and symposiums, the art of making you own rosette materials is rarely taught. Which is why during this year I have started teaching myself. After exploring wood dyeing techniques, and building special jigs to thickness my veneer sheets, I have been working on perfecting the wheatear motif. Building the wheatear is a long process, and can hardly be finished in a day. Many sheets of dyed or differently coloured veneers are glued together, until one has a big block of veneers. This block then gets cut at an angle, reglued and planed, thus creating a long block of stacked veneers from which one can cut sheets of wheatear. Which is where it gets tricky.
Wheatear motif test
Here is why: The wheatear motif in the Torres rosette is approximately 2.5 mm wide. This means it consists of 5 strips, each of a thickness of 0.3 mm and 0.6 mm. If you take one of the wheatear strips and try to bring it to final thickness (0.5 mm), it easily gets eaten by the sander (powertool technique) or torn by the plane (hand tool technique). After ruining 80% of my wheatear stock this way, I had to sit down and recalibrate. Obviously, no matter what technique I used (I used a fellow guitarmaker’s instructional book as guidance), a huge amount of wood was lost to breakage. The one thing I had learned at that point is that the hand-tools did provide nicer and more precise results for me. I wanted to continue thicknessing these striped sheets by hand; the question was how to do it without breaking most pieces and cursing myself (or the wood) all day. I pondered over my large-formate glossy prints of Torres’ rosette, until it struck me that he used green continuous veneers right beside his green and white wheatear. This led me to the conclusion, that this green veneer was glued on the wheatear before thicknessing, and therefore held all pieces together when planing them to thickness.
Wheatear with backing veneer
This moment was a beauty, and I actually yelled out “Heureka” at my workbench. It helped me to work with the traditional technique which Torres probably used as well, and also enabled me to produce very fine and delicate wheatear strips that characterise his work. This type of realisation stemming from imitating the old masters is exactly what I came looking for when I started this project, and I am thankful for this man to have taught me post-mortem.
Everybody has heard words like “the secret of Stradivarius” before, and I think that most people would agree that a good and experienced luthier must have some sort of secret. The more praise a luthier’s instruments get, the more there is the sentiment that this particular instrument maker must have a “secret” that makes his or her instruments stand out.
My impression is that what is generally considered a luthier’s secret is in fact technique. And this technique is not always purposefully hidden, but often simply hard to communicate. This was a realization I had when starting to teach students – what seemed like magic to them was pretty simple to me. But when I had to explain exactly how I was doing what I was doing, I sometimes struggled to find the words. Then it struck me that if I do not manage to express my knowledge with enough precision, I too may one day be regarded as a luthier with secrets.
Since I personally think that secrets are an obstacle to evolution (very generally speaking), I feel compelled to share my knowledge with others. It may at times be cumbersome to put all this effort into sharing (like writing about technique in a blog…), but ultimately I wish to give back to the luthier community; just as I have received knowledge from my generous teachers when I was learning the trade.
So in order to contribute, below is a preview of a little trick I learnt by trial and error recently. This is one of the little techniques that I think one could almost call a “secret”, and I will explain the details in my next post. Until then – stay tuned!
Wheatear with backing veneer
Posted inUncategorized|Taggedwheatear|Comments Off on Why instrument makers have secrets – an attempt to explain.
In fall 2010 I have been granted funding for another project related to the work of Antonio de Torres. The Manitoba Arts Council has given me the opportunity to build a replica of the FE 18, which I measured and documented with the generous permission of its owner, James Westbrook.
The information on this blog is intended for musicians and fellow luthiers, who can get an intimate insight into my work on this project. As this project proceeds, I will publish photos and descriptions of the work processes. The replica is planned to be finished in fall 2011.
Enjoy reading, and feel free to comment or ask questions. A discussion can be enlightening both for the visitors and myself.
This website publicizes my research and the experimentation with making replicas of the “FE-18”, a guitar that was built in 1864 by Antonio de Torres.
