The other day I got the question: so where do you get your wood?
This question is a good one, where do I get wood like: spruce, maple, ebony… given that I am living here on Aruba, a little dot in the Caribbean sea, next to Curacao, Bonaire and Venezuela. The hardware stores have wood but not the quality I need and also not the type of wood that I need. Without the option to buy it here and the fact that it is not easy to order them abroad and have them shipped to Aruba, you might think that it gets very difficult for me to work in this environment. Come to think of it, I might need to figure out a more sustainable plan for the future! Luckily, I do have a little collection of woods for the coming years and as I travel I will keep track of what is needed the most to maintain a healthy stock.
There are international fairs like Mondo Musica in Cremona, Italy where lots of wood suppliers are selling exactly what we as violin makers need. I’m not a carpenter who needs lots of it. On the contrary, for repairs and restorations I need little pieces. The adventure actually lies in finding the correct and matching piece. You also have to study the wood you are working with, for example spruce has such a great variety of thickness between the growth rings, or a great variety of colors that it can be hard to find the perfect match.
For sure it is practical to have an abundance of choices on an island that relies heavily on imported goods. However, in cases where I don’t find the right wooden piece I can still work it out with the final retouch on an added missing piece (as you can see on this website).
I have to say I love old wood. There are violin makers that have woods of at least 100 years old. Even if you don’t have the access to old wood, you can prepare it in a way that it looks older than it actually is. It’s quite remarkable how this material works, when cooking it or putting it in the oven. All are options to experiment with but carefully as to not over do. There are also chemicals that one can but I don’t really like the side effects.
Other things to always track of and keep into account are pests like woodworms and termites, especially in this part of the world. I am very paranoid of that and always triple check my materials.