Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello Everyone,
I'm new to the forum, so here is a little introduction:
My name is Jan, I'm 23 years old and live in the Netherlands. English is not my native language, so I apologise for the quality of my writing.
I don't know if anyone here is interested in building historical instruments, but I am.


Last year I started building a little baroque guitar after Voboam. It will have a vaulted back, paper rose, 5 courses and a mensur of 445 mm.

First I started with drawing the guitar.



And designing the paper (historically it was parchment) rose.


Making the rose












The tools used:


A real Dutch luthiers' cup of coffee...


Making the molds:










A lot to file






Starting the neck:


A nice quarter-sawn piece of Bosnian maple.






Making the head




There must be a tight fit without glue:


Making the head overlay, a center of walnut lined with violin binding.


Cutting a piece of bone for the nameplate.




And edged with ebony.


Sawing out the head:






Shaping the neck:




The soundboard:


the soundholerose:










Bending the sides:






For now I'm off to a little holiday in Luxembourg. I hope to give an update next weekend.

Very cool Jan, Looks like your working with hand tools only, is that correct?
Would you tell me a little more about drawing the guitar?
I see 2 circles and several linesit looks like 2 of the lines locate the bottom of the sound hole and 2 locate the bridge.

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Really beautiful work, thank you for posting all those pictures! Your English is great, I would not have known it wasn't your native language.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

Bravo!! Jan, never apologize for learning a second (or third....) language.

I admire your hand tool skills, also. It looks like you are making a very fine instrument. Thank you for sharing with us!

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This looks like a great project. I'll certainly be following it! When you're back from holidays I will have some questions for you, in particular about the type of paper used for the rose.

And you say that you are only 23?! How many 23 year old people have such an interest in historical guitars and can actually do something about it! Congratulations.

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I will be looking forward to the updates, can't wait to see the back come together. Amazing work for any one, but at 23? Where are you learning this from? Keep up the great work, thanks for the pictures.
Rob

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Great craftsmanship. Thanks for the peek into your world.

Did you apprentice under someone to learn the skills you possess?

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I'm seeing some profoundly professional looking work. Looking forward to seeing this one through.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Thanks so much for taking the time and effort to share this with us. Your work will inspire many minds.

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This is great Jan. Like others I am sure, I am eagerly awaiting the follow-up.
Being so young, where did you learn building?

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
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Wow! Thanks for sharing this Jan, beautiful work, great photos!
I love getting a peek into your shop, show us more when it's time.

Thanks,
Joe

Jan; I know it's been said by others but, WOW!!! I am totally impressed.
Eagerly looking forward to further instalments.

Hi Jan.
Phenomenal lovely work.
Only 23.
I get the feeling that some of us in this forum wish we were 23 again and had your talent.
At least I do
Please continue to post your progress.
I am very interested in historic instruments as I played in early music ensembles all through out my undergraduate and graduate years.

Elman

Absolutely beautiful!

(and very inspirational)

Mat

Great work, Jan! I am also interested in historical instruments. I'll be looking forward to your future posts. Thanks for sharing.

Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

Looks great so far Jan. That rose is amazing!!

Hi Jan,

Where did you find info' on making the rose? Or did you just make it up as you went along

Keep up the good work,
Max

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Max Bishop
Brighton, Michigan

That is so cool! I'm looking forward to seeing more from you.

Mike

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Mike Lindstrom

Hallo Jan! Awesome work on this project. Thanks for sharing this here and please keep posting Fotos. I like your approch on only using handtools, I try that also on my Acoustics.

Greetings from Vienna, Austria

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This looks like it's going to be a cool little instrument. Also Great to see more people my age hanging around the forums. Especially putting out nice clean work like that. I am also interested on how you learned that complex looking Rose. Looking forward to seeing the finished instrument.

Absolutely Beautifull Work I love the detail. I dont have the patience that you do obviously . Ohh And BTW, IMHO if you ever stop building , you could be a photographer !

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Thanks for all the reactions.
I can't answer them all in five minutes, so it will be in multiple phases.

The trip to Luxembourg was fine, walking and rock-climbing, making a swing in an abandoned traintunnel and drinking with a couple of good friends. Nice time



I try to use as less powertools as possible. Although it's also a matter of space, the shop you see in the pictures is all I have. In the future I hope to have a couple of them: Bandsaw, thickness-sander, drillpress, tormek and amarylstone.
They make the life of a luthier a lot easier. I try to think and work like the old builders did, but I'm not against technology. A lot of tools I use are made myself, like knives, planes and gauges.
I'm working on a couple of molds (lute, baroqueguitar) that will be cnc'd it will save a lot of precious building time. Also for drawing I mostly use CAD, it's so helpfull. (Like for the rose, it's almost impossible for me without CAD, it really makes me respect the old builders even more.)



The lines are giving the arches of witch the guitar is constructed. The circles give the necklength and place of the soundboard-fretboardjoint.


This is a little drawing gag of the Belchior Dias guitar (the eldest guitar we know). "The final prove that Leonardo da Vinci designed the 1581 Belchior Dias guitar; Drawn on the backside of the Vitruvian Man..."
It's a construction of the outline, made by two rasters with 19*19mm squares. You can draw the whole guitar beginning with a star of david. It all just blends in.

The paper is just simple 220 g/M2 textured cardboard I found at a local papershop. Historically they used parchment, but it´s very expensive and hard to work.

Yes I am 23 (turning 24 next month). I know a couple of those guys
It´s like a disease...

I went to the ILSA (International Lutherie School Antwerp) and studied guitarbuildig there by Els Jageneau and Geert Vermeiren. Normally you build three instruments in three years (first an octaveguitar, 2nd a classical guitar and in the last year you've got the choice between multiple guitars, lute or a gothic harp), but I worked a little faster so completed six instruments and half a baroque guitar.

After school I got married (2 years ago) and worked nine months in a home-depot-shop, witch was very depressing. Now I am working at a guitarfactory and building historical instruments in my weekends. Funny thing is that I now built everything from the medieval lute (around 1440) and earliest existing guitar (1582) to the most modern guitar and all in between.



Almost (...) but no sigar Chris...



It is. In fact it's the only one I've made so far.

Prachtige gitaar!
Glad that you have chosen a Portuguese guitar.