The Starting Block
		The primary raw materials are: a piece of cherry for the neck (3''x'3'x36''), a piece of ebony for the fingerboard (3.5''x0.5''x20''), and a hefty gourd (about 10'' in diameter with walls almost 0.5'' thick). Down the road, I also used a maple/ebony bridge, 5 ebony violin tuning pegs, a piece of goatskin for the head (all ordered online), two metal braces for the dowel stick, a piece of very thick leather for the tailpiece (from the local cobbler store), and a set of Nylgut strings.
					2. Another view...
		1. Here's the cherry, ebony, and gourd (with the head cut off).
		3. Here's me drawing the guide line around the gourd so that it will sit flat against the table.  That way, the surface of the head will be level.  After drawing the line, I cut it out with a hacksaw.  There was some foul-smelling debris left inside the gourd, so I cleaned it out with a scraper.