Wood Selection

It was with a heavy heart that, due to health reasons, I was forced to retire from actively making new instruments. I still work with Borman owners to keep their instruments in top condition.

I personally selected the wood that I used in my instruments on frequent trips to the violin wood centers located in Italy, France, and Germany. Contrary to the trend to use American or Canadian maple and maples of other sources, I used only Bosnian maple, this in spite of the difficulties of acquiring wood of known origin. Bosnian maple has long been considered to be the finest maple for instruments of the violin family and is the wood used by the majority of the great 18th century Italian makers.

The spruce that I used for the tops of my instruments was from either the Swiss or French Alps and for the most part was split unless I was sure of the grain line extending throughout the entirety of the top. Any wood that I used was cured for a minimum of 15 years, with the majority aging much longer.

The spruce that I used for soundposts all came from a tree that I cut in Switzerland 20 years ago.