Carving a Stradivari Cello Scroll
October 2, 2014
Sharpen those gouges and get to work! A lot of people ask me how I carve my scrolls so I figured it would be much easier to show you pictures of some steps. This is a Stradivari Cello scroll. Stradivari had a very clean making approach; he would scrape almost to the point where all of his tool marks were removed.
Although I find inspiration in fine old instruments, I myself as a maker, love leaving tool marks behind. I like to think that in 100 years when my new instruments go into a shop for a restoration that they will say see how he left some tool marks behind! It gives each of my instruments personality and it shows that these instruments are truly made with hand tools….