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Scaynes Hill Village
I started making musical instruments in 2005, when I had some time on my hands after leaving the NHS. I had worked in the NHS for 35 years, and I felt that I needed something definite to do to fill the extra time when I left.
Violin making in Scaynes Hill
20 April Posted by Mike Lavelle
The first instrument was a classical guitar, which I made in the workshop of Pablo Requena in Lewes, and I have made the subsequent instruments in my workshop at home. Working with Pablo initially, I was taught basic techniques, such as accurate measuring, and sharpening hand tools. He taught me a huge amount about attention to detail which has been invaluable ever since, and he now teaches guitar-making from his home in Plumpton. I remember when I first went to his workshop, he showed me an instrument that one of his pupils had just finished. "Your guitar will look like that", he said, but I just didn't believe him. However, 15 months later, I too had a beautiful classical guitar that I had made. When I say that I made it, I really do mean that, but Pablo has a terrific talent for allowing you to do the work while supervising you very closely.
After this, I thought I would try and make a cello, because that is an instrument that I have played since I was a child, and it just seemed like a good idea. I already had a workshop at home, but had only made fairly crude things before, such as garden tables, and shelves for the house. I therefore had to buy quite a lot of special tools, but in fact there was not a huge expense in this regard, because most of the tools are fairly simple gouges, chisels and planes. The only electric tool I use is a bandsaw for cutting out rough outlines. For the first few months, I had some help from a violin maker in Brighton, but then I carried on alone with the aid of books, notably "The Art of Violin Making" by Chris Johnson and Roy Courtnall and "Cello Making Step by Step", by Henry Strobel. I also had a lot of help and advice from a violin maker/repairer in Forest Row.
I have now made 10 instruments, two violins, two violas, two miniature violins, two cellos, a five-string cello and the one guitar. A violin takes me about 6 months to make, and a cello takes 9-10 months. I buy the wood from a specialist supplier in East Sussex; I am very lucky to be able to go and choose the wood personally. The wood has to be very specially selected and seasoned, and so costs a lot to buy. Just the wood for a cello can cost £800, and most of that wood ends up as shavings on the floor. A lot of people don't realise that the curved belly and back of a violin is carved out of a solid piece of wood. The sides of the instruments are bent using heat, but the front and back are carved.
I have really enjoyed the instrument-making over the past eight years. I can spend as long as I like at it, and can go into the workshop whenever I like. At the end of it, I have a beautiful instrument to show for my labours. People often ask me whether it helps having been a surgeon, and I think it does. Obviously, there is the fact that I am using my hands, but it also helps to have spent many years concentrating on one practical problem for hours at a time. If anyone feels that they have a talent for woodworking, I would certainly recommend enrolling on one of Pablo Requena's courses in Plumpton.
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If you are interested in learning more about Mike and his violin making or would like to buy or commission an instrument or send a message to Mike just e-mail the website address scayneshill@webplus.net and we will pass on your message.
