The slides below also take you through the process of building my first cello pictorially.
- Finished at last! 9 months of hard work but sounds wonderful
- Holding the bridge in position while fitting
- Nut glued onto end of fingerboard
- Saddle fitted
- After rubbing some more artists oils
- In the UV light box before I put the cover on
- #1 cello after final colour coat
- £12 mini fat fryer makes a perfect glue pot
- The removable top and bottom layers of the form
- After rubbing in and then rubbing off some artist oils (Burnt sienna and burnt umber)
- #1 cello neck glued on ready for finishing
- Just put on the 1st coat of coloured varnish
- Sealed with shellac ready for 1st coat of varnish
- After 10hrs fuming with ammonia
- After 2 weeks of tanning
- Neck nearly ready for gluing to the body
- Neck joint dry assembled during fitting
- Gluing the fingerboard to the neck
- Fingerboard ready for finishing and gluing to neck
- Edges rounded
- Box al glued up
- Gluing on the back
- Gluing on the belly
- The back glued on - inside view
- Back mode #5 - final
- Back mode #2 - final
- Belly mode #5 - final
- Belly Mode #2 - final
- Mode #5
- Bass bar glued in
- Finished f-holes
- F-holes roughly sawn out with a coping saw
- Holes drilles with a forstner bit and opened out to correct diameter using tapered reamers
- Marking out the f-holes on the back of the top
- Belly mode 5 @121Hz
- Belly mode 2 @ 56.8Hz
- Back mode 5 @121H
- Fluting rough carved
- Fluting rough cut on the scroll
- Basic scroll and pegbox carved
- Rough cut the neck to allow the wood to settle
- Just starting to carve the scroll
- Fitting the bass bar with chalk
- Belly roughed out
- Belly - Guide holes drilled to give correct thickness profile
- Belly - Channels marked out with purfling cutter. Corners have to be finished by hand.
- Belly - Purfling slot cut
- Purfling in and channels roughly cut
- Rough forming the belly
- Belly - Nearly there
- Belly after rough cutting out with bandsaw and finishing to size with vertical oscillating sander
- Finished hollowing the back
- After first round of rough hogging out
- Desired thickness contours marked on inside of back
- Channels cut and started to fair them in with scrapers
- 1st 2 pieces of purfling glued in
- All purfling channels cut ready for gluing up
- Purfling after slicing up on the bandsaw
- Getting ready
- Start of cutting a channel
- Closer still
- Getting closer
- The maple back - starting to chisel the profile after levelling the back
- The spruce top after glueing the two halves
- Clamping linings using home-made peg clamps
- Half the linings installed on one side
- Gluing up
- After trimming the corners
- Marking desired profile onto corner and end blocks
- Corners before carving
- C bout after gluing
- All ribs bent
- Gluing up the C bout
- Corner blocks after shaping
- The form with blocks glued in position
- Centre part of the form with dowels to locate the removable top and bottom layers. Also shown is the template.
- Designs pinned to workshop wall
- Neck design
- The ff hole design
- Finished plan
Follow the links below for a more detailed view of the process from end to end: