Acoustic Violin Build Packet Print Packet

Generated: 2026-05-09

Packet folder: repo root (`.`)

File Map

design.md

Project intent, catalog metadata, assumptions, and validation plan.

Acoustic Violin Design

Intent

Create an honest L2 acoustic violin packet that captures the standard setup

geometry and the open engineering gaps before any claim of build readiness.

Readiness

L2 scaffold. Use for design review, drawing planning, and sourcing review. Do

not treat this as a final luthiery method or validated arching plan.

Governing Model

Open strings use Mersenne-Taylor. Body response is not reduced to a simple

closed-form model in this packet; arching, graduation, bridge, soundpost, and

air/body modes must be validated empirically.

f = (1 / (2 L)) * sqrt(T / mu)

Baseline Assumptions

Tension And Setup Notes

• Fit bridge and soundpost under low tension, then bring strings up gradually.
• Check neck projection before final bridge height.
• Record action, bridge foot fit, soundpost location, and open-string pitch

stability.

Known Gaps

• No arching/graduation map.
• No neck-set drawing.
• No soundpost/bridge fitting evidence.
• No live sourceability check.
• No acoustic measurements.

bom.csv

Starter bill of materials with part categories, quantities, drawing refs, and notes.

sourcing.csv

Supplier/search tracker with specs, price/date fields, lead time, substitutes, and risks.

cut-list.csv

Rough/final stock sizes, material, grain/orientation, operations, yield, and offcuts.

drawing-brief.md

Manufacturing drawing and technical product sketch brief.

Acoustic Violin Drawing Brief

Required first drawings:

• Full outline with centerline, f-hole placeholders, bridge line, and stop.
• Side setup drawing with nut, fingerboard projection, bridge, and tailpiece.
• Plate arching/graduation placeholder map with TBDs visible.
• Rib garland and block layout.
• Neck/pegbox/fingerboard interface detail.

assembly-manual.md

Shop-facing sequence, tools, fixtures, safety, tuning, finishing, and maintenance notes.

Acoustic Violin Assembly Manual

1. Choose the outline, arching, and graduation references before cutting.

2. Prepare plates, ribs, blocks, linings, neck, and fingerboard.

3. Build the rib garland on a mold or documented fixture.

4. Carve or CNC rough plates, then hand-finish critical arching and graduation.

5. Close the body with reversible or documented adhesive.

6. Fit neck angle/projection before final fingerboard work.

7. Fit pegs/tuners, nut, bridge, soundpost, tailpiece, and strings.

8. Bring strings to pitch gradually and log setup measurements.

Safety: string and bridge forces are lower than a harp but still require eye

protection and careful first pitch-up.

validation.csv

Target/measured values, tolerance, environment, result, and tuning/build action log.

supplier-rfq.md

Supplier email/request-for-quote starter.

Supplier RFQ Draft

Hello,

Please quote materials for a 4/4 acoustic violin prototype: spruce top blank,

maple back/neck/rib stock, bridge blank, soundpost stock, standard fittings,

and a 4-string set with published tension data.

Please include dimensions, grade, unit price, minimum order quantity, lead time,

and substitution options.

visual-bom-brief.md

Art direction for an image-forward visual BOM.

Visual BOM Brief

Show the violin as assembled and as an exploded plate/rib/neck/fittings view.

Call out top, back, ribs, blocks, linings, neck, fingerboard, bridge, soundpost,

tailpiece, chinrest, pegs/tuners, strings, adhesive, and finish.

acoustic-violin-starter.wl

Wolfram starter for physics, optimization, visualization, and validation.

(* Acoustic violin open-string starter. Values are first-pass assumptions. *)
ClearAll["Global`*"];
a4 = 440;
freqFromMidi[m_] := a4*2^((m - 69)/12);
scaleLengthIn = 12.91;
tuning = <|"G3" -> 55, "D4" -> 62, "A4" -> 69, "E5" -> 76|>;

Dataset[
  KeyValueMap[
    <|"string" -> #1, "frequencyHz" -> N[freqFromMidi[#2]],
      "scaleLengthIn" -> scaleLengthIn|> &,
    tuning
  ]
]

README.md

Project artifact.

Acoustic Violin

Engineering documentation and parametric design table for the acoustic violin -

traditional construction reference and stave-built explorations.

Part of the [tonykoop/instrument-maker](https://github.com/tonykoop/instrument-maker) catalogue.

Readiness

L2 scaffold. This repo now includes root-mode build packet documentation for a

4-string acoustic violin reference build. It is not L3 because arching,

graduation, neck-set, soundpost, bridge setup, CAD/render evidence, and measured

prototype validation are not complete.

Packet Contents

• `design.md` - acoustic violin baseline and bowed-string assumptions.
• `bom.csv`, `sourcing.csv`, `cut-list.csv`, `validation.csv` - packet tables.
• `assembly-manual.md`, `risks.md`, `photo-shotlist.md` - build and review aids.
• `drawing-brief.md`, `drawings/README.md`, `cad/README.md`,

`acoustic-violin-starter.wl`, `wolfram/README.md` - starter technical artifacts.

String-Scale Assumptions

Baseline: 4 strings, G3-D4-A4-E5, 328 mm / 12.91 in vibrating length, standard

violin string set, and total tension verified against the manufacturer chart

before first pitch-up.

License

[CC BY 4.0](LICENSE) - see LICENSE for details.

photo-shotlist.md

Project artifact.

Photo Shotlist

• Plate blanks with grain orientation.
• Rib mold or garland setup.
• Arching/graduation checks.
• Neck projection straightedge before glue.
• Bridge foot fit and soundpost fit.
• First string-up with action and tuner readings.

risks.md

Project artifact.

Acoustic Violin Risks

• Arching and graduation are not validated and can dominate tone and structure.
• Neck projection errors can make the instrument unplayable.
• Soundpost and bridge fitting require care; poor fit can damage the top.
• Live sourcing and price checks are still missing.
• Remain at L2 until setup, CAD, and measured acoustic evidence exist.