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Trade Secrets: Home-made tools for violin making

2025-10-17T08:47:00

6

A range of innovative implements made by hand from carbon steels and high-speed steels

By Alan Beavitt

Luthier based in Scoraig, Scotland, UK

I find it a satisfying experience to work with home-made tools, and they can be as good or better than anything commercially available. In this article I describe how I make specialist gouges and chisels. I use carbon steels, which have to be heat-treated after fabrication, and high-speed steels (HSS) that only need grinding to shape…

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