Varnish is complete on the Lion-head viola.

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Posted by Chet Bishop on Wednesday, September 18, 2013

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I was getting pretty worried: I had decided to try adding some dark brown to darken things up a bit. Initially, I was pretty grieved at the change, as it was way too dark, but I kept brushing it out and evening things up, and eventually, it wasn't too bad, so I sanded it pretty thoroughly with worn 400-grit, to take the worst dark areas back just a little, then added one more coat of amber and called it quits.

I will still have to complete the rubbing out of the varnish and the final setup of the instrument, but I expect to have it playing by Friday. Here are some current photos:

Front of lion head viola with final varnish

Side of lion head viola with final varnish

Back of lion head viola with final varnish

Scroll of lion-head viola with final varnish

Side of lion head scroll with final varnish

I am sure there will be minor retouches to do after everything is complete, but this is pretty much what it is going to look like. I like the way the big leaf maple is glowing under the varnish, and even the hard rock maple scroll seems to glow a little. I hope it plays well.