Posted on June 13, 2024January 22, 2025 by Dale Phillips A Review of Indoor Air Quality Health Issues A Review of Indoor Air Quality Health Issues for the Home Woodworking Shop by Robert A. Edelstein Originally published in American Lutherie #86, 2006 Indoor air quality is an important issue for the luthier and woodworker to consider. While certainly not a glamorous topic, the benefits of learning some of the important concepts, (and making appropriate changes to protect your health), are certainly worth the effort. I look forward to my time in the shop. The pleasure of woodworking is tempered with chores, though, and I spend some time cleaning up the place before and after each work session. When I first walk in, it looks fairly clean. Upon closer inspection, I find a thin layer of dust is actually covering a surprising number of the surfaces. This became more apparent to me recently when my son and I remodeled our basement shop, and the tremendous amount of dust hidden in the crevices became visible. In addition, my son began to wheeze within a few minutes of entering the shop, and only fresh air provided relief. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on June 6, 2024January 17, 2025 by Dale Phillips Letter: Experimental Violin Letter: Experimental Violin by Robert A. Edelstein Originally published in American Lutherie #93, 2008 Hi Tim and GAL Staff, I built this violin to be played at a Suzuki camp our family has attended for the past ten years. Both of our children are players. Just for fun, I tried to break every rule I could think of. The top of the instrument is made of eight pieces of 4" wide, 1/4" craft grade balsa from a hobby shop. I laminated them into two stacks of four boards each, then joined the two stacks side by side to make a blank 8" wide by 1" thick. Balsa is a pleasure to carve, but beware of chipping. The finished top was surprisingly resonant. I used a carbon/graphite free-floating bass bar made from an old bow and slid into balsa blocks. It could be changed for stiffer or lighter ones depending on player preference. The soundpost is made to function as a very stiff spring; I wanted to see if it could “self adjust.” The neck is carved of mahogany and has a slide-through cam resting against the back which helps do a quick neck adjustment during construction. The headstock uses mini-tuners in a pattern suggestive of a traditional pegbox. For speed of completion, the back and sides are from a Stewart-MacDonald violin kit. Bessie Blum, an artist friend of ours in Cambridge, Massachusetts, did a wonderful decorative finish. The instrument plays well, but is a little top heavy from the mechanical tuners. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.