The words "plywood" or "laminated" have come to be thought of as synonyms for "cheap" or "poor quality" but many valuable antique instruments have in effect become laminated structures as a result of repairs and this does not seem to have made those instruments cheap! Here a couple of examples. My bass ribs are made of two layers of Maple with a layer of silk in between using a vacuum lamination system that I developed, this makes them much less likely to crack in the future and I think high quality lamination now is better than poor quality lamination later!

New Toy

Just to get started, I'm posting a picture of the latest addition to my shop. It's a Drummond treadle lathe made in England in 1924 and still works beautifully!

Welcome

Hello and welcome to my blog! I have long believed that the secrecy and hoarding of information which has been the norm in the violin world in the past has done a disservice to everyone who cares about fine instruments including the secret keepers. Fortunately, this secrecy is rapidly becoming a thing of the past! As my friend Sam Zygmuntowicz said "we have reached the end of the age of privileged information". I intend this blog to be a forum for the kind of information sharing that raises the standard of our art/craft to the benefit of all. If you have any questions or observations that you think would be of interest to other visitors to my website, please post them here and I will do my best to respond.
Jim Ham