How Many pieces of wood in a violin and what do they all do?

 Making a violin begins with selecting the wood. You need a surprising number of different pieces, and these all need to be sourced from specialist suppliers. All of the different pieces of wood in a violin have an important role to play, and each impacts upon and interacts with the other in a very finely tuned and complex way.

• A very finely grained and specially grown piece of spruce for the front. This needs to have been seasoned well over a number of years before it can be used. This will be split into two separate pieces and then glued together so that the grain direction is in a mirror image. Whilst it starts as a solid block of wood about 20mm thick, the front plate will be whittled away to a thickness of around 3mm, with a curvature of up to 16mm height, called the arching. It has a significant acoustic role in the function of the instrument, and so must meet certain struct criteria in terms of quality. The final thickness of the plate depends on the individual plate and its ability to flex just the right amount to create and transmit the right vibrations around the box of the instrument. So the maker will spend time assessing how the wood responds and their experience is important in deciding when to finish working the wood.
• One large seasoned block of maple wood for the back. As with the front, this will be split, or sometimes a one piece back is used, but this is usually cut in a different direction when it is being felled. Again, as with the front, this will start as a solid block about 20mm thick and will be cut down to 3-6mm. The back is not all one thickness, and has a different acoustic function, acting as a springboard for the vibrations created by the movement of the front plate and reflecting those back through the body of the instrument and out of the sound holes.
• One seasoned block of maple for the neck and scroll. This needs to be a strong bit of wood as this area is cut down very think in some places, such as the peg box walls, and the neck needs to be really solid and not warp over time, so again, quality is so important.
• One piece of spruce for the bass bar, seasoned, with a straight grain. The bass bar is a carefully shaped piece of wood which is glued to the inside of the violin onto the front plate, to the bass side of the central line, acting as a support for the weight of the tension created by the set up and also having some acoustic function.
• Eight or Twelve thin pieces of maple wood of similar quality to the back plate and preferably from the same tree. These are often bought pre-cut by suppliers to around 3mm thick and then cut down again by the maker to as thin as 1mm.
• Offcuts of spruce or willow for the internal blocks which have a supportive and structural function: six pieces altogether.
• Twelve thin strips of spruce of similar quality to a front piece which are cut from one piece and which will be glued to the inside of the ribs adjacent to the top and bottom plates, acting as support for the ribs, and providing a gluing surface to join the box together. 
• Strips of pear wood sandwiched together with two strips of ebony for the purfling. These will be cut into either eight or twelve separate pieces of purfling wood before inserted into the front and back plates. The purfling is not just pretty, it strengthens the plates, breaking the grain direction around the most vulnerable part of the instrument - the edges, acting as a stop to any cracks, and also providing support for the area underneath which is glued to the ribs.
• One large piece of ebony for the fingerboard. This is usually bought pre-cut into a fingerboard shape by violin makers, who then cut it down to size and fit it to the specific violin they are making.
• One offcut of ebony for the nut, which is the small piece of wood above the fingerboard, which the strings sit on.
• One offcut of ebony for the saddle, which is the small piece of wood which sits into the bottom of the front plate and supports the tailgut, which holds the tailpiece in place. 
• One piece of ebony, rosewood or boxwood which is shaped into a cylindrical tube with a button on the end, called the endpin, which is inserted into the bottom section of the ribs, and serves to hold the tailgut. 
• Four pieces of ebony, rosewood or boxwood which are shaped into pegs, to hold the strings and inserted into the pegbox, at the bottom of the scroll.
• One piece of spruce, called the soundpost, cut into a cylinder, which is inserted inside the violin as a support between the front and back plate and sits near to the bridge, the place where there is greatest tension on the instrument, and relieves this tension as well as having an acoustic function.
• The tailpiece, which acts as a joining plate between the strings and the endpin is often but not always made out of wood, usually to match the wood chosen for the pegs and endpin. The shape and quality of the tailpiece has an impact on the sound, as well as the weight of the instrument, which is important for the player's comfort.
• The bridge is made out of maple wood of a denser quality than the main pieces of maple used in the instrument. It is usually bought pre-cut in a larger size than the final bridge, and is always cut to fit the specific instrument that is being made or restored. You can never re-use a bridge that has been made for one instrument on another one. The precision of the cut is so important both for the sound and for the comfort of the player.
• In many instruments, there are four tiny pieces of cylindical wood which are inserted into the top and bottom of each plate, which have a purely practical function of holding the plates to the ribs structure while it is being made. 

So altogether the minimum number of individual pieces of wood in a violin is fifty nine and the maximum is eighty one. Of course, there may be more than eighty one if repairs have had to be made during the making or afterwards!!