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Please note this is an archived topic, so it is locked and unable to be replied to. You may, however, start a new topic and refer to this topic with a link: http://www.fiddlehangout.com/archive/56608
RichJ - Posted - 04/22/2022: 10:51:28
This project came out far better than expected. Don't ask why I did what I did, just sorta' followed advice from a number of sources on Youtube. After final sanding I first applied a coat of gum mastic prepared by dissolving gum mastic in wood alcohol. I'd say this resulted in a saturated solution since a bit of the mastic was still present in the bottom of the jar after several days. Next I applied several coats of International Violin spirit varnish in various blends of red-brown, brown and dark brown. My goal here was to match color and tone of the front and back plates as close as possible. I think I applied 4-5 coats in all. My varnish technique wasn't the best so there were quite a few ripples and irregularities in the final result. So after several days of drying I went over the whole fiddle with 400 grit paper which did a pretty good job of leveling the irregularities but also dulled the gloss down quite a bit. I decided to give a very light, final touch of French polish using dark shellac. I applied this with a cloth mop, very lightly so as not to disturb the spirit varnish base already present. The overall result speaks for itself. Overall, I'm very glad I took on this project.
Flat_the_3rd_n7th - Posted - 04/25/2022: 16:46:59
No longer a flea-market fiddle!
Thanks for the pics, I think it looks great!
pmiller510 - Posted - 04/26/2022: 14:48:33
Yes, that is very nicely done. Finish is one of my most difficult areas in building instruments. (steel string and classical guitars) and from the pictures it looks like you nailed it. I have never used "International Violin spirit varnish in various blends of red-brown, brown and dark brown." but after seeing your violin I will check their varnish out. I'm a big fan of Sutherland Wells varnish, but have also used basic Minwax. The look of your violin looks much better than what I have achieved.
RichJ - Posted - 04/27/2022: 08:06:02
quote:
Originally posted by pmiller510Yes, that is very nicely done. Finish is one of my most difficult areas in building instruments. (steel string and classical guitars) and from the pictures it looks like you nailed it. I have never used "International Violin spirit varnish in various blends of red-brown, brown and dark brown." but after seeing your violin I will check their varnish out. I'm a big fan of Sutherland Wells varnish, but have also used basic Minwax. The look of your violin looks much better than what I have achieved.
Thanks for the nice comment pmiller. Yes, I agree violin finishing is a whole different challenge. Seems like there's a tendancy for a lot more guarded information and secret formulas when it comes to finishing a violin. I pretend to have no knowledge in this area and only recently became aware of the differences between oil and spirit (alcohol) based varnishes. The most important one as far as I'm concerned is the rapid drying that takes place with spirit varnish compared with oil varnish making it much more difficult to control the flow. Too much and it tends to drip and run all over, too little and you may wind up going over areas a few seconds later when partial drying has started to occur. I had originally thought of a French polish finish for the Stainer copy, but ultimately decided on the gum mastic/ spirit varnish approach to allow a gradual adjustment of color and tone. This worked out as planned but after several coats of varnish the surface irregularities were disappointing and needed leveling with 400 grit sandpaper. It was only after the final application of a single coat of shellac using the French polish technique which really brought out the final result on this fiddle. I honestly have to tell you I did this with considerable uncertainly since I wasn't sure what would happen when I applied the alcohol based shellac directly onto the dried spirit varnish. Maybe I just got lucky. lol
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