I received my initial training in violin making via a one-on-one apprenticeship
with Vermont luthier Thurmond Knight. From 1992 to 2000, Thurmond served
as teaching assistant to German Master Violinmaker Karl Roy at the
University of New Hampshire Violin Craftsmanship Institute. During three
years of study with Thurmond, I was trained in the traditional techniques
much as they would have been taught at the Mittenwald School including
such basics as tool handling, pattern and mold making, arching, graduation,
purfling, scroll carving, varnishing and set-up, and so on. Several years later I
participated in a master varnishing class taught by Geary Baese who has
dedicated much of his career to the study of Cremonese varnish. |
