This is one of the few photos we have of my grandpa Louis Knapik, my dad’s father . In this picture he is working on a violin. I know that he made and repaired violins but I have no idea, for instance, how many instruments he made or if there are any still around. I don’t know if I have even seen any of his instruments. I recall one relative who had a violin displayed in her living room for many years. Perhaps that was one made by my grandfather or maybe even by my Uncle Gene, after whom I was named. Gene was a well known as a violin-maker in near Chesterton Illinois. It has been many years, and at the time I wasn’t at all interested in violins. In the photo, I believe my grandfather is changing the pegs on a violin and to do so he is resizing the peg-holes using a tool called a reamer.