MAKING A CELLO | Preparing the BLOCKS

[@LucasFabro]

🎥🎻Online violin making course: ​ obrienguitars.com/courses/violin ⚒️ Some of the tools, strings and equipment I use: - Excel version: www.dropbox.com/s/c6n6zq7om6hqo9g/Tools.xlsx?dl=0 - Pdf: www.dropbox.com/s/5ua7zy0e3h2olm2/Tools.pdf?dl=0 Other media: ♦ www.lucasfabro.com ♦ Instagram: instagram.com/fabroviolins/ ♦ Facebook: facebook.com/fabroviolins/ns/

[@DrSlightlyEvil]

Thank you for sharing your videos. It is truly fascinating to watch!!

[@LucasFabro]

Thank you very much for your kind message :) I’m glad you enjoy them!

[@1216raptor]

Wonderful video series, especially as I prepare to build my first cello. If you do not mind me asking, why were smaller strips of wood glued to the end blocks prior to gluing them to the form?

[@brennan985]

Beautiful series! Is there any chance of seeing the rest of the build? Where do you get a Ruggieri form to build on?

[@d.i.pedrojulioglosny1682]

An admirable job, you are a great luthier! Hugs

[@LucasFabro]

Thank you very much!

[@davidwitherspoon5330]

Hi there. These videos are extremely helpful for me as I am a complete novice at building stringed instruments. Did you build your own forms? If so, do you have videos on how you created them? Templates, measurements, etc.? If I can buy them (or the templates to build them), where can I buy them?

[@kantokey1363]

Where do i get the cello block tool? The cello shaped tool you use for fitting and chaping the blocks

[@AJRelaxesWith...]

I am not a craftsman such as Lucas, but I was wondering why power tools such as a miter saw weren't used to make rough cuts. I understand the chisel and hand plane work to fine tune the fit or the many pieces, but making rough cuts using a power tool would lessen the time for some steps. I don't think innovations such as power tools would detract from such fine work.

[@LucasFabro]

Hi! Thanks for your comment. This is a question I get asked a lot, so I'll copy one part of the answer from another time and try to expand a bit on another one haha. First of all, and the "simplest" of the answers, is an "ethical" one. What I sell (and my clients want) are handmade instruments. And at least for what I morally consider and interpret as hand-made (and what I think is generally accepted in Cremona as well) then the use of power tools for rough cuts would make it a non fully hand-made instrument. Or at least, as I mentioned, I wouldn't feel ethically correct at selling it as a hand-made instrument. Secondly (and the part that I'm copying from before), the use of something like a CNC would make an almost final arching or almost final thickness. In my case, I change each arching according to each instrument based on the characteristics of the wood. Some of these characteristics I can measure in advance, but many others I simply "discover" while I'm doing the rough out. This part of the process is what allows me to understand how the wood is and feels, which can change my mind on what shape of arching I want to make and how high I want it to be. Same thing applies for the thicknesses. If the wood turns out to be softer than I expect it to be, then I should make higher thicknesses, and a CNC wouldn't let me realise this. I think that if this part of the process wasn't important then factory made instruments would indeed be almost as good as professionally handmade ones, and that's certainly not the case. Another thing is that after having some experience, if I had to prepare a machine to do some rough cuts, then that'd probably take me longer than doing the rough cuts by hand. In the case of something like the one seen in the video (the blocks), the reason why I'm cutting them with an unsharpened chisel or knife and a hammer is because I want to make sure that the wood get split and not cut (which would defeat the point of using a machine). This is very important to make it easier to work on the blocks during the most delicate stages. Hope you found the answers useful but please let me know if you want me to expand on the issue or if you have more questions!

[@AJRelaxesWith...]

@@LucasFabro Thanks for the reply. I was thinking that your reply would be something along the lines of your answer and it's very respectable and commendable. I was amazed by your by craftmanship throughout the build. I like how you described discovering the wood as you worked with it. I enjoyed your video series and will watch others too. Thanks again for the reply.