Local Luthier

First in a series . . .

If you don't know what a luthier is, you probably aren't alone.
  

lu-thi-er [loo-tee-er]

- a maker of stringed instruments.

This is the staircase to our basement.  In Dutch, it's called a kelder and it's one of the words we've incorporated into our "Flenglish" vocabulary.

Like "Hey, where's the bubble wrap, the extra bikes, and the heater?"  

In the kelder.

It's a fairly large space with two rooms that we've managed to fill up with stuff that mostly needs to be given away or thrown away.  

Who would have thought we'd accumulate enough junk to be thrown out?  

Five years anywhere is a long time, I guess. 

Anyway, somehow Jim has managed to carve out (pun intended) a little workshop amid the recycling, the strollers and the Christmas trees.

Here are a few of his tools, mostly found at flea markets.  Apparently one can never have too many chisels.  Did not know that.

This is European spruce and Bosnian maple he ordered from somewhere in Germany.

And he's planning to turn these pieces of wood . . .

into a violin.

He gets up a little early most mornings and heads down to the kelder.

And now, I'll let the pictures do the talking . . .

I'll keep you posted on the progress!