polkat

Not trying to hijack this thread, but along with pativarius's questions, I'm also interested in what effect a slightly shorter then standard (or longer for that matter) bar might have on tone? Certainly a shorter bar would somewhat limit support for the top, but the effect on tone?

Thanks for the ideas guys! For the last 10 years or so I have generally use vernice bianca alone as a sealer/ground under my varnish (oil), and have been quite satisfied with the results. However, I am an experimenter (dang me!), and have been looking for something simple and new to try. From what I've read, glue sizing has been an accepted (if less then desirable) ground, so it seemed like something to mess with. My plan was to try and find a way to add egg white to the glue sizing (looking at serious temp control), to introduce more protein. Ben, I am wondering if Gum Benzoin could be used as a substitute for Gum Arabic in vernice bianca? Seems that gum arabic is getting a little hard to find (locally anyway).

I've read about hide glue sizing as a ground, which seems pretty common to some builders, though I've never tried it. How does it stand up to other traditional grounds? And how is it mixed (extra water amount)? What would happen if other proteins (say...egg white) were mixed in? Anyone here do this?

Did any of the classic Cremona (or other) makers carve animal or human figureheads instead of standard scrolls on their necks? And if so, is there somewhere on the web to view them? Thanks!

Extend the setting time, as I understand it. While I don't have the articles anymore, one pointed out that when gluing down a large piece (for example gluing on a top plate) it takes a little time to get the glue spread around to all surfaces, possibly enough time so that some of the glue is starting to set up before you can get the piece in place. Salt is supposed to extend the setup time so you can finish. I have no idea if this actually works, hence the question.

I've read a few things about putting urea in hide glue to extend working time, though I've never tried it. But...I've also read that common table salt will give similar results. Anyone ever try this and did it work?

OP here. Evan, I understand about not wanting to give out that number. I have tried in the past to tint tru-oil with artists oil paints. I dissolved it in turps first, then filtered it right into the tru-oil. Either I did not use enough, or didn't mix it completely, but the result gave uneven coloring (got more even coloring with the road tar). I may try this again as I'm also a painter and have lots of paint. Any suggestions on mixing it and how much to use? Thanks!

Walmart usually has them in the garden department. Kmart also has them, and I believe OSH has them too.

Well, I planned this thing to be a bit more elaborate, but didn't need to go that far. The pipe is aluminum (I think), 1/8" thick walls, originally 4" wide (OD) but squished down to about 3-1/2". I actually found it on the street! I think it's some kind of ducting pipe. It's mounted to a 2x4 board (which I clamp to the TV) with threaded rod. The heating element is a electric barbecue charcoal igniter, 120 vac-550 watts (Kmart or Walmart for about $10). The pipe size makes tight bends like on C bouts a bit hard to do, but I have a smaller pipe that clips inside and sticks out the front for that. The elements are not squeezed together and the heater is held in the back with a small bolt (visable at the top/back of the pipe. The element sides just clear the pipe and do not touch it. I tried it with plans to add a dimmer to control the temp range, but found that the pipe was big enough to pass enough air so that the heater provides just the right heat without a dimmer (but you don't want to sit close up right in front of it-unless it's cold outside :-) Yep, that TV has been in my garage since just about when "Leave it to Beaver" originally went off the air. My philosophy: what the heck? If you've got it, use it.

I've been asking about this a few times. Built it this morning. Used a 4" piece of pipe squished down to an oval of about 3-1/2". There is still enough air flowing through it that I can plug the igniter directly into the wall and get a very nice temp across the bending area. In the pic is a set of ribs for a Chanot style (cornerless) violin that I bent this afternoon with no problems. Thanks to all for the advice!

Evan, what was your lot #?

Nice looking finishes Bill! Evan, I have also used it for years. Could be that the last bottle I bought had been on the store shelf for some time, but it's the original stuff. Have you tried using the new stuff you got?

My most recent purchase of Tru-oil (about three weeks ago) smells fine and seems the same. I wouldn't think that they'd change a product that has been sucessful (particularly for gunstock makers) for many years. But you never know. Do any of the chain hardware stores carry the Hammerl tints?

And by Tru-oil I mean the Birchwood Casey product. In the past, through a suggestion here, I dissolved some road tar in turps and filtered the results directly into the Tru-oil. It worked...to a degree, but it wasn't a very strong effect. I simply want to acheive a darker brown effect. Maybe I should have used more tar. What have others done here?

Naw, I'll build this one. I've got all the parts except the pipe, and building one is no sweat. Hi capt! Now that I think about it, I'm just going to build a few cornerless instruments, and then I'll probably quit making and concentrate on playing. The cornerless have far milder contures, so a wider pipe might work okay. Thanks for the replies.

I've always cold bent, but recently I was given one of those charcoal igniters that some folks like to use to make homemade benders, so I thought I'd build one. Building it will be no problem for me, but I got to wondering what size pipe to use. Considering the tight C bout bends, I was wondering if a 2-1/2" diameter would be too big. Any opinions? Thanks!

Bill, what strings are those and how long have they been on the instrument? I've found a few synthetic and gut brands that have a rather long strech-in time, and will do that for a while. Also sounds like a lot of bow pressure.

Also looks like the neck is cocked to one side, or that might be an illusion due to the pic angle.

I'm building a Chanot style violin (cornerless) and am thinking about leaving the ribs a bit thicker then standard to increase the strength, due to the lack of corner blocks. I'm wondering how thick I can go without having trouble bending. 2mm? I'm a proponent of Craig Tucker's cold bending method. Any suggestions?

Just bought some rib wood that is 2mm thick. I'm looking to make it about 1.2mm thick. I could use a sanding rig, which I don't have. Or I could scrap them. I did scrape some ribs so many years ago that I consider myself new to it again. What is the best approach to this? Best type of scraper? Someone suggested plaining the wood. Best plane? Scrape/plane along the length? Thanks for any suggestions!

No, duane88 didn't say to dampen it, that was my idea. The ribs seem to be perfectly flat. I've let the plate sit loose in a warmish room now for almost two days, but there's no change at all. No, not an expensive instrument. One thing that I only now remembered was that, if I recall correctly, according to the previous owner, the seam in this back plate apparently opened and was reglued long before the violin got to me. I'm beginning to think that there may have been some 'spring' in the plate when I took it off, perhaps because of a bad reglue angle, although the seam looks good and tight. My idea of dampening was to let the wood reshape a little bit while clamped flat. But if you guys think that's a bad idea, I'll clamp it flat for a while dry and see what happens.

It's very evenly warped down the centerline so that the highest spots are the middle of the button and the equvalent back end. Roughly about 4.5mm. Actually, much like duane88 said, I was thinking of slightly dampening the wood everywhere except the glue line, and clamping it to shape on a flat surface for a few days. Think that might work?

I'm just getting back into violins after a long layoff, so I'll have numerous questions for a short while. Thanks! I've got one in the garage that I took the back plate off of quite a while ago (for some repair I think), and forgot about it. I went today to glue it back up. However, over the time it's been off, it has warped slightly across the plate. The drawing below shows it flat on a table, looking towards the button end...... I can compress this flat by hand though it takes a little pressure, but I don't want to glue it up that way. How would you straighten this? plate.bmp

I'll check that out. One person I talked to suggested the adhesive Gloy as an alternative. Anyone heard of this?

Not sure why but gum arabic seems to be harder to find. None of my close by art stores locally (not very local) still carry it. So to simplify this problem, I've been thinking of possible alternatives. Perhaps some kind of fruit juice? Maybe shellac (but would that mix well with the egg white)? Or a light mix of hide glue? Anyone done any research on this? Thanks!