Welcome...!

> ...  My two boys are a senior and a freshman in high
> school.  They’re both into classical music pretty heavily and some
> discussions on the Porch about “users” and “collectors” of old tools have
> interesting parallels when thinking about old instruments.  My older guy
is
> a cellist and his piano trio practiced at our house all year...

http://www.maestronet.com has some cool forums for string players of all
levels and professional & amateur luthiers, you & your sons might like it.
A very well respected violin maker from Chicago posts there a lot, it makes
for interesting reading.

> I’ve got a question.  .... the problem is that my charger
> has a safety feature that keeps it from putting out current unless there’s
> at least some juice in the battery – the clamps won’t spark if you touch
> them together.  I’ve been looking around for a less safe charger and can’t
> find one...

Quick question -- do you hear an audible click inside the charger when
turning the thing on when it's hooked up to the car battery??? Being a
reckless
sort myself, and an electrical controls guy to boot, I'd be sorely tempted
to poke around inside the charger. If there's a small relay turning off the
'juice', based on measured current or whatever, it might be a simple matter
to
replace it with a wire jumper to disable the safety feature. (The relay is
what would make that click I mentioned above...) It would be risky
though, you probably don't want to do this without guidance if you're not
used to doing this kind of butchery. Maybe not even then...

Regards,
Chris O.
...waiting for the hide glue to arrive so I can join the plates
for violin #1...

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