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Salemtowne resident David Chandler loved playing violin as a child. During high school, however, he put away his treasured violin and didn’t pick up another one for nearly 40 years.

“After I decided to try violin again, I quickly discovered that my fingers didn’t work the way they used to,” David said. “But I was still very attached to violins, and I decided to try the next best thing to playing violins—making them.”

David began creating his first violin in 2006 and he hasn’t stopped since. While making violins, he also began occasionally playing them again. He said it takes approximately 100 to 150 hours to make a violin, and David’s current project is creating a three-fourths-sized instrument for his 11-year-old granddaughter.

“I served in the Army for 27 years and developed a pretty good aptitude for reading manuals and following instructions,” David said. “When making violins, I often create patterns from photos provided in ‘The Strad’ magazine, which is a very well-known magazine among violin enthusiasts.  The magazine occasionally includes posters, which have very exact photos to aid makers. I’ve gathered many books, done a lot of internet research about making violins, and attended workshops and conferences about violin fabrication.

“I carefully follow the patterns and am particularly focused on symmetry when creating the instruments,” he added. “Good symmetry is one of a number of important elements in achieving a high quality sound from a violin.”

David was born in Ohio, and his father was in the construction business. His family moved quite a lot due to his father’s job. After completing his Army service, David moved to North Carolina’s Yancey County and built a home on the bank of the South Toe River in 1995. He stayed there for 25 years, and during that period discovered his passion for making violins.

“Our mountain home was such a beautiful place, but it was very rural and occasionally flooded,” David’s wife Joan said. “After a third big flood damaged David’s workshop, we decided it was time to explore living elsewhere at a senior living community.”

David and Joan said no other senior living community that they visited offered the warmth of Salemtowne.

“The residents at Salemtowne were so warm and welcoming when we visited,” David said. “So, we joined the Towne Club while waiting to move to Salemtowne. It was while we were enjoying the benefits of Towne Club that I found a particularly enticing benefit—a really good woodworking shop on Salemtowne’s campus.”

Today, David and Joan live at The Woodlands, and he frequently makes the easy walk over to the Salemtowne’s woodworking shop.

“I’m working on my 38^th and 39^th violins right now,” he said. “I’m excited about my current projects because I’m using American maple from Yancey County along with spruce wood that I gathered myself from Mount Mitchell in 2009.

“Salemtowne’s woodworking shop is just great and so organized. There are routers, sanders, planers, a lathe, and a drill press among the woodworking tools,” David said. “The shop has everything you need to create a work of woodworking art.”

David—who has received awards for both tone and craftsmanship—houses several of his violin creations in a display case that is prominently featured in his and Joan’s home at The Woodlands. He also has sold some of his violin creations and has proudly contributed some to an outreach program of the Winston-Salem Symphony.

“I’m going to keep making violins until my hands fall off. If I’m not in the workshop, I feel my energy drop,” David said. “We’re very happy at Salemtowne. I met a couple a few days ago who have happily been at Salemtowne for 17 years. My goal is to be here at least that long!”