Mother of Pearl

After a little searching, native Tasmanian green-lipped abalone shell for mother of pearl (a stunning material used for the pearl slide and pearl eyes on the frog of a bow) has been sourced. Saturday saw us pile the kids in the car and take a drive up the river in search of our local neighbourhood abalone diver.

On a stunning vineyard on the West Tamar we found several piles of 'stink' shells, as named by the kids, and I collected a box full. In my enthusiasm, the box was overfilled and unshuttable so the drive home was a little aromatic, but well worth it, as the shells cleaned up beautifully.

Its great to have a local Tasmanian material to use in my bow making. Most of the other exotic supplies - pernambuco, mammoth bone, ebony etc must be sourced from the far corners of the Earth.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnwhite/sets/72157594369988268/

Mmm, green lipped abalone, looks disgusting, tastes delicious!

Cello Bow No.2

This is my new cello bow. Cello bow No.2, we shall call it, as this is my second bow and the first I have completed since returning from France last May. The process of 'tooling up' and securing supplies has been almost excruciatingly slow, one of the disadavantages of living on an island at the bottom of the Earth far from European and Brazilian suppliers. Cello bow No.2 is made from a beautiful Pernambuco stick, a gift from Lyon archetier, Sylvain Bigot. I was lucky enough to meet Sylvain in his atelier in Lyon on my travels last year, having received a recommendation to him from

Jean-Luc Tauziede

, my bow making Master and mentor.

Sylvain's workshop

is on the second floor of a wonderful building in the smart shopping district of Lyon. To gain entry you must buzz the bell next to his nameplate at street level. The entrance is adorned with the typical white on blue street number, the brass nameplates of the occupants, wooden doors and ornate carvings in the stone architrave. Once access is given to the building you ascend the stairs to this wonderful workspace.

Sylvain gave me a very warm welcome and much invaluable advice and knowledge. He sent me away with much encouragement and the gift of this beautiful pernambuco stick so I could continue my bowmaking journey. Merci Sylvain!

Scrooged

In another life, I worked in a music shop in the big town. The shop stocked the full range of musical instruments strings, brass, pianos, electronic equipment - the works. Customers were always coming in trying to wrangle big discounts on instruments, like it was a used car yard. Christmas seemed to bring it out in the punters even more than was usual and us salesman wearied of the endless haggling of the silly season.

One December day, a gentleman came in. A man with a keen eye for a bargain and a master negotiater. He was like a dog with a bone after a discount. After being denied repeatedly by a colleague, the man cried in despair:

"You are not being very Father Christmassy!"

Ho, ho, ho!

So the Philip Smith Christmas decoration has gone up, no expense spared as you can see. And that's about as Father Christmassy as it gets around here.

Class

The violin making classes have been going for a couple of weeks on Tuesday nights. It's turning out to be quite the melting pot of ideas and creativity! There are two regular students and a couple readying themselves to put chisel to seasoned tone wood. Another is considering embarking on, my personal favourite project, making a double bass. After the success of Tuesday night's class (and the fact that 3 or 4 in the workshop takes up all the space), I am considering offering Thursday night classes as well.

So, if you have ever thought about making a stringed instrument - you can do it, with a little help from your friendly neighbourhood luthier. My contact details are on the side bar of the blog. Call or email and we can talk about the options.

Goodbye No 3

Viola number 3 has been safely delivered to its new home.

Now there is a viola-sized hole in my workshop.

It's always a bit sad to see the instruments go after spending several months working on them so intensely. Still it has gone to a good home and the owner and teacher were both very pleased with the final result. Hoping to see and hear it at the next Hobart Chamber Orchestra concert where it will be playing with some of its siblings.

Violin number 12 is now demanding some attention and social services have been called about the bass in bits in my shop window.

Tasty Tools

This week I have temporarily satiated my appetite for certain objects of desire.

There is nothing quite so satisyfing as a parcel of brand new tools, and this lot of bow making tools have arrived ... sweet! Swiss chisels and files, planes from Germany and the block plane from the US of A, as well as a difficult to find hand chuck from Italy and the leather knife from Japan. The knives are Tasmanian, handcrafted by my good self.

The big block plane is a beauty. I think it is my new favourite.

The vintage Japanese lathe was sourced from my friend

the horologist

, next door. Excellent quality for precision bow making.

Theses tools have facilitated a little bit of bow making progress with a bass and a violin frog now well on the way.

Instrument Making Session

Over the years, quite few people have expressed in interest in learning the dark arts of violinmakng so I have started a casual evening session, Tuesday's 7-9am to guide people in the process of making an instrument. The first one kicked off last night. If you are interested in coming along, give me a call. Booking is essential as space in the workshop is tight.

L'Alto Vernis

After overcoming a significant mental block about commencing the varnishing process, I am preparing to put on the final coat of colour. to Viola No. 3 (Pictured are the 5 coats of coloured varnish, there are 3 to 4 process before this and two coats of clear to finish.)

Varnish has a big impact on the way people respond to the completed instrument - its colour, figure and finish. But varnishing is a bugger. There's no other way to put it. Quick drying oil varnish is hand applied to the instrument with badger hair brushes. When I say 'quick', I mean almost instantaneous. You basically get one shot at it. Any attempt to retouch a dodgy stroke simply makes a mess of it. The colour of the instrument is all in the varnish. It begins with the application of a ground of yellow, then to browns and brown/red mixes. Each layer enriches the instrument's colour and each gets increasingly harder to apply.

In a good varnish I like strong colour but maintaining good transparency to make the most of the highly figured maple, creating a three dimensional effect.

Baguettes

It's been another long time between posts, I'm sure you've been missing me terribly. However, as I am constantly being reminded, everything in this business takes a long time.

My

pernambuco

baguettes arrived from the US last week. This endangered wood is only available because it is reclaimed from floorboards, fence posts etc in Brazil. Ordered from the Government approved registered pernambuco dealer in Brazil three months ago, they had to sit in New York awaiting inspection by the US Fish and Wildlife Service for two months before being released. They arrived in Australia complete with a permit from the "Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora" to be held up at Australian Customs for a fortnight. It was not the authenticity or provenance that the Oz Customs were concerned about, but how much GST to charge. Such a frustrating process. Luckily the dealer sent extra baguettes, in this wondrous array of tones, to compensate for the delay. Unfortunately, he had forgotten to include the four bass sticks, which are the items I really need to get started on, so here we go again. Like I said, nothing in my business happens quickly.

With the completion of all my Churchill Fellowship commitments - the report handed in, speech made etc., I was given this medallion by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. Thanks Winston, or should I say " Merci!" (although he isn't looking too happy about it, is he? )

Since I got back from France, full of the joys of bow making, two instrument commissions presented themselves. The first is for a smallish viola, my version of a Guadagnini, seen here with the first coat of coloured varnish. Now comes the tricky part of applying the darker colours. The viola was played by the owner in the white and was greatly appreciated for its tone, quick response and ergonomics.

This white violin, minus the neck which I am still making, is my trusted Guarneri 'del Gesu' model. This one should be ready to try in the white shortly. It's my violin number 12.

Now back to my recently acquired new skills. This is a partially finished bass frog, awaiting the pernambuco stick. Made from ebony, Sterling silver and mother of pearl, this is for my first bow commission from my long suffering mentor and double bass teacher. Hopefully his patience will soon be rewarded.

Archetier

Well, I am back from my travels but I am not sure that you could say I have actually 'landed' yet. Apart from the jet lag, the bowmaking adventures of the last 7 weeks have kept me flying.

You may notice I have changed my profile to read "Bow maker and luthier...". I have made my first bow, or as my new French friends would say " Mon premier archet". The journey to France and to the world of bow makers and bows was an amazing adventure. I had a feeling before I went that bow making was for me and, happily, I was right. It's brilliant! The combination of woodworking, metal working, jewellery making and sculpting required to create these amazing things hit just the right note for me. If I was French, which now I wish I was, I would shrug my shoulders and scowl slightly in that inimitable, off-hand Gallic style and say "Oui..., its good for me."

The bow making journey began in Paris with a chance drop in on luthier James Chauvelin. His atelier happened to be close to where we were staying. As it turned out a double bass specialist as well. He offered me a very warm welcome and a tour of his beautiful collection of instruments/bows. While perusing his Bows and Basses two of France and Norway's best bassists arrived and I quickly handed the bass I was playing over to these formidable bassists, and listened to the show. We also spent a considerable amount of time discussing Basses, bows, restoration, setup and a whole lot of other luthier secrets they were only to happy to share.

There are many more stories to tell but now a huge 'Merci, merci, merci" has to be given to

Jean-luc Tauziede

and his family who welcomed me so warmly, Jean-luc thanks for teaching me so well and sharing your passion and your bow making secrets . Also thanks to

Patrice Taconne

, Sylvain Bigot,

Sandrine and Jean-Francois Raffin

,

Gilles Duhaut

,

James Chauvelin

,

Christian Laborie

and all the other archetiers and luthiers who gave up their time, knowledge, bows and instruments so freely and generously.

And to the

Winston Churchill Memorial Trust

- thank you, thank you, thank you. The opportunities the Trust provides to Australians, to get out into the world to make connections and to garner knowledge and skills unavailable on our home shores is immeasurable in the good it does the individuals, their professional communities and all of us as a result.

Au revoir! Bon Voyage!

I know, I know, a long time between posts, but things have been tres busy around here. It took some time to get going on a new instrument after last year's cello frenzy. Now she has begun to take shape. Once the ribs are done you get a much better idea of the instrument's form. The

Francois Rabbath Quenoil Double Bass.

Aside from organising our upcoming French Odyssey, much scratching away on orchestral excerpts has been done by my good self in preparation for an audition for the

new Tasmanian Discovery Orchestra

. I am happy to say that I was successful and now I am 'primed to make the big bucks' as a professional orchestral musician when I get back from France. The orchestra's first concert will be in April and my first gig with them will be in June. While it will not, in fact, make me rich, I am looking forward to playing. See you there.

Ok, so as of this Friday we will be jet-setting our way across the globe to begin the Smith French Bow making Odyssey. Wish me luck as I have managed to master only two phrases in French, neither of which have anything to do with bow making. But they will know my name and where I am from, if they can comprehend my Tasmanian French accent.

I will attempt to keep you posted on the blog as to our adventures. I will update while recovering form a hard day in the workshop with a nice local fromage and a big glass of Bordeaux's finest.

Back on Monday the 24 May!

This could be you - check out the

Churchill Trust website

.