My advice is to start large and work to violins, start with larger hollowbody guitars like acoustics or Gibson style electrics, the techniques used are almost identical. I happen to own my own lutherie here in the states and I can tell you with total confidence, as it is how my shop got its start with violins and violas. Be patient, expect to screw up, and remember the luthier mantra... Imagine calm blue ocean as you measure everything five times before making a cut or drilling a hole

>>938423
http://www.stewmac.com/ is a great place to get kits/specialized tools/etc. for people in the US. I don't know about how well they are for Euros/if there's a Euro company like them, but I imagine there is.

http://www.maestronet.com/forum/index.php?/forum/4-the-pegbox/
These guys know their shit.

>>938450
this guy's advice is on point

Additionally, there's a lot of information that's not really online or it's spread around in a lot of annoying to find places, so physical books are a damn good friend to you.

As for courses, try calling up luthiers in your area. Some might happily teach you around your schedule. Others might suck at life.

Also
>tonewood is a fucking myth. Tonality is a function of wood density. Don't let anyone fucking tell you differently.

>>938454
Precisely, "tonewood" is an industry term used by large companies to sweeten the description of a guitar, in fact in most electrics the wood matters exactly zero percent, it is there to screw hardware into and hold some strings on in most cases, we now make cellos with carbon fiber mainly because we can vacuform the body and then veneer it to customer specs with no loss in tonal quality. Stewmac is God for anyone living the life of a strong jockey, and if you were anywhere near !e I would be glad to teach you everything I know

>>938463
What state do you live in?

>>938464
... and with that, our hero disappeared

>>938423
You live in Italy there are plenty of violin makers and you have the civica scuola de liuteria de Milano. If you meet some students they are generally good lads and can help you a lot.
At least for a start you can ask them question. I had this book from altenburger about violin making. It's not bad even if he explain how to carve the arching with a machine. It's something like 20euros on amazon.

File: image.jpg (2 MB, 3264x2448) Image search: [Google]

2 MB, 3264x2448

I'm a professional ask me anything.
Pic related.

>>940889
let me try that beauty anon!!?? pleaaaase
you made that?

>>940965
Sorry it is already sold.

I have a lot of pdf but they are all books about history of violins or pictures. Maybe a few old ones explains badly how to do a violin. None of them are in english if i remember.

Would it be advisable to own a violin or guitar or instrument you want to make. Can luthiers shred guitar too?

>>941118
Having a violin in front of you when you want to make one for the first time is clearly a bonus.
Even if it's 20€ chinese crap.

>>941104
I would love to have the next one !

>>940889
If I have never been in a wood shop and don't play an instrument, how long would it take me to learn to make a violin that a musician could play without flinching if I invest 5 hours every week?

>>942665
From stock wood or from a kit?

From a kit, you can make a not-terrible violin in around 30-70 hours. (the wide variance there is because I have no clue what kind of skills you already have) -- basically just follow the instructions you're given and look up videos online and quadruple check before you remove any wood.

From stock? eh...300-400 hours maybe? If you have never carved before, it can be a bitch and likely you'll have the most issues with carving the plates and you get to do it with a soft wood (spruce) and a hard wood (maple) which means you've got to have a different touch for each. Cutting the notch for the neck is likewise annoying for newbies, but the scale of that versus carving the plates puts my money on the plates as being what breaks you.