Peter K-G

For some reasons uploading images to MN makes them look "colder", here is the original: https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMybA-g84EjucXEQBZomHRYfQ0P-PrA2oixmvViQHAdRUTYKriHg-8KttVclKMSwQ/photo/AF1QipMrXup7BCuC79gR-_khjfIK736MYvZRjG7-e8JV?key=NFRZVFNabXVIZkF5d1JkQTNPcmgwalBTZ05UNl93

A lot of testing and reading, haven't been taking pictures, most of the test were failure. As there have been little or no sun I have to imagine how much darker it would be with tanning. Also got some help from a friend on how to prepare horse dung/urine, which I will try later. The grounding mix is casein/lime/varnish/linseed oil(small amount)/colloidal silica. I'm experimenting to get the optimal penetration without burning the flames, I will probably go a little further than this

2 - 3 g more or less on upper/lower blocks have very little influence, if at all, on violin sound

I haven't tested, it would probably be totally transparent like just 2 glass slides, if I dilute it and squeeze them together

To get a lighter violin I use my lower dens, under 0.45 spruce for blocks and the higher dens for tops.

Ex. Different light of the same piece (page 37) 1. Direct bright halogen, 2. Inside lighted room close to small table lamp, 3. Outside cloudy day

BTW, Roger's varnish is not that red! Sunlight and cameras aren't telling the real colors, red is pronounced too much. (From his Bass book p. 134)

If you mean like this color, then yes. It gets somewhat browner if the temperature is raised, but not much different between final varnish. The "red" is still there. I think it is mostly what type of colophony you start with and how much you reduce it. The one I have wouldn't cook 100 h at low temperature because it has already been reduced. I have to gradually raise temperature to keep it fluid.

Or there is a better chance to get high performance wood by choosing higher density

And I think you have like 80/20 chance with higher dens wood (0.45 - 0.50)

Sometimes wood has defects that doesn't show up on simple sound of speed test. I guess you have to make a lot of tops before you can "sense" if the wood is good I have started to look at/feel the shavings when I plane the wood and think I might have developed some feeling for what's good, but that's only some kind of intuition that could be wrong. Another "intuition" is lively is good, but can be misstaken by "hollow" lively which is not good.

My experience too

density 0.49 http://www.thestradsound.com/ongoing/topinitiallyoptimized73g A = middle B = upper bout C = c-bout edges D = lower bout Final ~ 70 g with bb Next violin has 0.5 density

Here is an image from another angle, where how thick it is kind of shows. You can see that it has penetrated into the wood. This is why I'm totally against "varnish like" grounds, it does the same with light varnish but you don't see it

Hard to tell how many coats it would correspond to when varnishing a violin. This is only a first test, smeared on as much as the wood could take in one coat, diluted with ~50% turp. As you can see the flames are totally burned and it would not work good on bare wood. It needs a very good sealing ground.