First Shavings
- Cours
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Test your manual skills on a real piece of lutherie wood — before spending €2,000-5,000 on a full kit you might regret.
If I mention wanting to get into lutherie without knowing where to start, you're probably thinking about:
💸 Hundreds of euros wasted on expensive lutherie wood and specialist tools... before you've even made your first move
🕰️ Hours spent browsing YouTube and forums, lost between contradictory videos and advice that's impossible to apply without context
💭 That dream going round and round in your head for months (or years) — stuffed back in a drawer because you just don't know how to tackle it
Why It Doesn't Work With Others ?
Why do some people manage to build their first violin with pride... while others give up within the first few weeks, discouraged and out of money?
Every violin making courses available online does the same thing:
❌ They throw you straight into building an instrument from A to Z. From day one. With no preparatory stage.
That's putting the cart before the horse.
🎻To successfully build a violin with confidence, the real approach is to NOT start with the violin. (at least when you learn at home)
Why ?
Because the real problem is that to touch lutherie for the very first time, you're up against:
🪵 The financial commitment — quality lutherie wood is expensive. And if you mess it up, it stings.
🔧 The tool confusion — you don't know which tools to buy, in what order, or for what budget
🏡 The location — lutherie workshops are few and far between. And luthiers don't easily open their doors to curious beginners
The Dream
What if you could finally put your hands on a real piece of wood and learn the fundamental gestures of a luthier... without risking your budget on a project that might not suit you?
🎯 You press the knife
onto the wood for the very first time — and you know exactly what you're doing. No more confusion. You have the posture, the gesture, the precision. And real satisfaction between your hands.
🎯 You look at your finished practice board
and think :
"Yes. This is what I want to do." Not a hypothesis. A certainty, based on something real.
🎯 You commit to the full course without a shadow of a doubt
because you've already proved to yourself that you have what it takes.
Who I am ?
👋 I am Lydie
I've guided complete beginners in my workshop for years — people who had never picked up a tool in their life.
83% of them successfully built their instrument from A to Z.
I also learned something important along the way:
🎻 ome people take longer to get the hang of the gestures.
That's not a skills problem — it's simply a matter of progression.
Well-structured preparatory work makes all the difference.
That's exactly why I created this module.
What you'll learn in "First Shavings"
🪵 Step 1 — Gluing a top joint
Your first fundamental lutherie operation: assembling two pieces of wood with precision.
• Understanding why the quality of the joint determines everything
• Mastering pressure, positioning, and gluing gestures
• Training your eye to spot a perfect joint from a failed one
✏️ Step 2 — Tracing the violin outline
Learning to accurately transfer the shape of a violin onto the wood.
• Using lutherie templates
• Producing clean, workable tracings
• Understanding the importance of symmetry in an instrument
🔪 Step 3 — Cutting and finishing the outline
Your first real knife gesture. This is where you feel whether it speaks to you.
• Working the wood in the right grain direction
• Achieving a clean, even outline
• Getting to know the tool — and your own gestures
🔩 Step 4 — Purfling channel
One of the most characteristic steps in lutherie.
• Carving a precise, even groove
• Understanding the purfling's aesthetic and structural role
• Working with patience and accuracy
🪡 Step 5 — Fitting and gluing the purfling
Fitting the purfling strips into their channel — a millimetre-precise gesture.
• Cutting and mitering the purfling at the corners
• Gluing without overflow
• Checking alignment like a luthier
🪚 Step 6 — Scraping and levelling the purfling
Refining, evening out, smoothing. The finishing work that changes everything.
• Using a scraper and sandpaper in lutherie
• Achieving a consistent surface
• Understanding what "well finished" means in this craft
✂️ Step 7 — Cutting and shaping the f-holes
The f-shaped soundholes — one of the violin's visual signatures. A technical and precise gesture.
• Transferring and cutting the f-holes accurately
• Avoiding the classic beginner mistakes
• Understanding their acoustic role
✅ This programme is made for you if:
— You want to test your manual skills and find out whether lutherie is right for you,
before investing in a full course
— You want to turn that lutherie dream in your head into something concrete and real
— There's no accessible workshop near where you live
— You're a violinist and want to understand your instrument from the inside
— You're curious about traditional crafts and want something tangible in your hands
❌ This programme is NOT made for you if:
— You need a permanent presence by your side —
this programme is designed to be followed independently
Get access to First Shavings now
✅ Step-by-step videos for every stage
✅ Detailed PDF guides
✅ Complementary photos so you never miss a detail
✅ Lifetime access
I'm starting now !
Guarantie !
Buy and test for 48H.
I'm confident this module will give you real, concrete answers. That's why I'm offering you a simple guarantee: if you follow the exercises to the letter and get no results, just send me an email — and I'll refund you within 24 hours. No questions asked.
FAQ
❓ Do I need specialist tools to follow this module? No — the module is designed to be accessible with a minimum of equipment. That's one of its strengths: you test the waters without kitting yourself out heavily.
❓ Is this suitable for complete beginners? Absolutely. The videos, PDFs and photos are there so you're never left alone facing a difficulty.
❓ What if I want to build a real violin afterwards? That's exactly the idea! This module is designed as a gateway. If at the end you think "yes, I want to go further", you'll be ready for the full course — with the right foundations already in place.
❓ Got questions? Feel free to send them to me by email — I answer personally.