The varnishing process is nearly finished…what a beautiful amber colour
3/4 violin update No 3
Category: News
Full size studio cello sounds perfect now
After the full size studio cello was varnished and set-up it still needed some fine adjustments, a lot of playing and figuring out which are the best strings to support its beautiful sound. Now after two extra month of fine tuning the cello it is a very vibrant, ringing but warm and deep sounding cello. I am very happy with it. It is time to change it from the pre-order price to the full price. Call or email me for playing this cello let it be for purchase or only to have a play.
Two cellos
To get a little inside of what I have been working on in my North Queensland workshop in the last few month, visit my current projects page and see some of the steps in the building of two of my studio cellos, 7/8 & 4/4 size and a 15 ½” viola. They will be finished and ready to be viewed in my The Gap workshop when I come down for a brief period to do repairs, set-ups and instrument services after the 20th of September in about 1-2 weeks time.
https://www.grawert.com.au/…/workshop…/current-projects/
#cello #violinmaker #Brisbaneviolinshop #cellomaker #studiocello #fleurdelis #cellos #violoncello #onlyattheviolinmaker #luthier
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Studio Cello 4/4$14,995.00 -
Product on sale
7/8 Studio Cello$12,990.00 -
Studio cello bespoke order…build your own$8,995.00
7/8 cello update No7
Now the cello is varnished in a dark brown colour. Again I decided to paint some ‘Fleur De Lis’ again like on the 4/4 studio cello the painting is higher up in the varnish so they stay highly visible and not hidden behind layers and layers of dark varnish
…as well as preparing the fingerboard for glueing and shaping the playing side for easy playability. With new instruments it is always better to shape the fingerboard before it is glued to the instrument so the black ebony sanding dust and the woodshavings do not stick to the fresh varnish and make it look dirty. It is not as important with a dark colour but if I varnish in a light highly transparent colour the black dust is highly visible.
The keys on my piano are stuck
Here is a little hobby Sunday project. The keys of our student piano are stuck. I first thought it might have been due to high humidity as this piano lives nearly outside. It ended up to be cockroach dirt stuck in between the keys. It was fairly easy to clean all that. Now the keys are working again. Soon I will have to tune it.
The Apprentice on carving an 1/8 size scroll for practice
Carving a scroll so much smaller than I typically would was a really interesting experience, one that I really enjoyed, and learned a lot from.
I ended up having to use a lot of the smaller gouges that I would usually have only needed for the finest work on a full-size for a lot more of the general work on this scroll.
In the end, it has its quirks but I’m quite happy with how it turned out.
From the apprentice’s workbench.
7/8 cello update No 6
After closing the cello the cello was ready to have the neck fitted. I was so lost in the work on this cello that I totally forgot to take photos . It is very important that the neck is in the right position, in the right angle overlapping the top plate the perfect amount to create a well balanced system of tension within the instrument.
The neck was fitted, glued and now I am nearly finished shaping the neck so it is very comfortable for the hands of the cellist guiding its fingers into the right position.
7/8 cello update No 5
So the bass bar is glued as you saw in the last update. I removed the clamps grabbed my little thumb plane and started shaping the bass bar. It has to be supportive of the pressure onto the top plat from the strings and bridge as well as being able to spread the vibrations on the bottom strings as fast as possible over the whole plate. That way you get this beautiful deep growly sound we love with cellos. When done I glued the top plate onto the sides and started working on the back plate. I make use of some thickness templates which are only a guideline creating the right thickness and balance.
Shaving the inside of the top plate, fitting & shaping the bass bar & thicknessing the back plate accurately is very important in building a cello. This is one of the most essential parts in creating the beautiful sound which will eventual make people dance, burst into tears of beauty or just listen to the song being carried through the concert hall. This process transforms the cello from a furniture to a musical instrument… which then will be loved by the musician its companion for life.
Each cello carries a song of its own, telling a story of its proportions, the tools and the hands shaping it from a block of wood into this beautiful creation of sound.
The apprentice’s studio violin
“This was the first instrument I fully tonally adjusted, and it is the one that I am now personally playing, at least until I make something that I like more.“ – Reuben Grawert
“I had a lot of fun adjusting, setting up, and varnishing this instrument, and even if I made a couple of mistakes along the way, I absolutely love how it plays.” – Reuben Grawert
7/8 Cello Winter22 Update No4
I finished fitting the bass bar and glued it to the inner surface of the top plate in its proper position. Gluing is usually a high stress situation as the glues we use are one hundred percent natural hide glue. It needs to be heated and after application the clamps will have to be put in place in a very short time frame as this kind of glue set very fast (turn gelatin like) specially when it is cold. The drying & clamping time should always be 12 hours.
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Product on sale7/8 Studio Cello$12,990.00
