Lutherie by Rona Macleod

Lutherie by Rona Macleod A page to document the instruments I make while studying lutherie!

19/06/2025

On Tuesday we had our end of year concert with Calum McIlroy and Miguel Girao showcasing all the instruments made this year at the college and it was a lovely evening!

I was lucky enough to get the chance to play the fiddle I made alongside Calum, who was playing one of Max Brackenridge’s lovely guitars, a very special moment for me.

Haven’t finished posting the making process of this instrument but for now you can hear what it sounds like!

Big thanks to the lecturers for putting on the event, especially Isaac of Cranmer Guitars who organised it and managed to make the games hall look not like a games hall 🏀

With the scroll carved it was time to glue the top on, meaning the body was in one piece! Next I shaped the inside and o...
22/05/2025

With the scroll carved it was time to glue the top on, meaning the body was in one piece! Next I shaped the inside and outside of the fingerboard and temporarily glued it to the neck so as to plane off the excess material on the neck.

These next photos show the process of making the neck and carving the scroll! Very much enjoyed carving the scroll, was ...
20/05/2025

These next photos show the process of making the neck and carving the scroll! Very much enjoyed carving the scroll, was really exciting to see it take shape 🌀

I made a template and cut out the neck of flamed maple, drilled the peg holes and then used a saw to cut the steps of the scroll. I chiselled off the excess and then repeated this process with the remaining piece and shaped the scroll.

I chiselled out the peg box and then used a gouge to shape from the front to the back of the scroll.

Next stage was to mark and cut out the f-holes! I used the drill press and a coping saw to roughly cut them out then car...
09/04/2025

Next stage was to mark and cut out the f-holes! I used the drill press and a coping saw to roughly cut them out then carved them with a knife.
Next was fitting the bass bar - I glued temporary blocks on to hold the bar in place and fitted it to the curve of the top, then glued it in and shaped it.
With this done, I glued the back of the fiddle onto the ribs!

Carving/Hollowing These pictures show the carving and hollowing out of the top and back of the fiddle. In the first pict...
30/03/2025

Carving/Hollowing

These pictures show the carving and hollowing out of the top and back of the fiddle. In the first picture, I’ve drawn contour lines to show any inconsistencies in the shaping of the top.
To hollow the underside of each, I started by drilling out most of the excess and then moved onto using a very handy tool - a thickness punch which allows you to mark your desired thickness onto the wood very accurately 🤩

Violin top evolution! The next series of photos are all of the process of joining, cutting out, cutting a purfling chann...
18/03/2025

Violin top evolution!

The next series of photos are all of the process of joining, cutting out, cutting a purfling channel, fitting the purfling, and beginning to carve/shape the top.

Was exciting to see it taking shape so quickly, though cutting out the purfling channel and fitting it was not quick and a very intricate process 🤠

The first few stages of making a fiddle! Started this instrument last year and I’m very excited to be making something t...
11/03/2025

The first few stages of making a fiddle!

Started this instrument last year and I’m very excited to be making something that I’ll actually be able to play once it’s done!
I’ve used spruce for the top and maple for the back, sides and neck 🌲
Here, I’ve made my template and mould and glued the corner blocks in. Then bent the sides and glued the linings on ⚙️

The finished product! Loved making this tenor guitar, especially the brass RM inlay and using the lovely warm colours of...
12/02/2025

The finished product! Loved making this tenor guitar, especially the brass RM inlay and using the lovely warm colours of Honduran mahogany 🍂

I finished this instrument back in June of last year and am very excited to be working on a fiddle this year, so will share some pictures of that soon! 🎻

Before french polishing, I applied a coat of shellac to the guitar, then filled the grain using pumice powder and some m...
06/02/2025

Before french polishing, I applied a coat of shellac to the guitar, then filled the grain using pumice powder and some methylated spirits.
Then I began to French polish! This involved about ten sessions of going over the guitar with the shellac/alcohol mixture with a little bit of oil, with drying times between. This took a couple of weeks but was very satisfying.
With the polishing done, I used a scalpel to mark around the bridge and scraped the finish off, then glued the bridge.

With the fretboard on, it was time for frets! I used bronze frets to match the tuners and the inlay. I routed the saddle...
19/01/2025

With the fretboard on, it was time for frets! I used bronze frets to match the tuners and the inlay. I routed the saddle slot, drilled bridge pin holes, shaped the wings of the bridge and finally located the bridge. I also added some fret dots to the side of the fretboard.
Next step after this was to French polish! 🧼

Happy New Year! After a 6 month procrastination, my new years resolution is to finish posting pictures of the tenor I ma...
10/01/2025

Happy New Year! After a 6 month procrastination, my new years resolution is to finish posting pictures of the tenor I made last year and to share some of this years instrument!
Here are some photos of the volute, neck carved, neck fitted onto the body, fretboard with slots cut and the fretboard then glued on 💡

Inlay making! One of my fave parts so far! I hadn’t done any inlays before apart from the rosette but I really enjoyed d...
29/05/2024

Inlay making!

One of my fave parts so far! I hadn’t done any inlays before apart from the rosette but I really enjoyed doing it 🤩 The inlay I made was for the top of the headstock. I started off by drawing my initials onto a piece of aeroply as a template which I cut out with a scalpel and then stuck with tape to a piece of brass. I used a jeweller’s saw to cut out the piece of brass as close to the template as I could.
Once I’d filed it smooth, I drew around the brass inlay onto the headstock with a scalpel and used chalk to see the outline. I then used a dremel to cut out the shape and fit the brass piece in! I used a mix of epoxy and ebony dust to glue the inlay. I also filled in a couple of cracks in the headstock while doing this.
Finally, I scraped the dried epoxy off and filed the brass inlay smooth 😍

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