Michael_Molnar

Fascinating how this old red herring about Titebond keeps resurfacing. Perhaps, people don’t do a search on a topic, but rush to start a new one thinking that they found something new. Then, there is the piling on by the MN community to rebury this corpse. Just my personal observation about something I find interesting. Nothing judgmental meant.

Nice craquelure job. All in all very pleasing.

Setup is indeed key.

I agree.

There are lots of dichromatic modern pigments that can simulate old varnishes. Before artist Don Jusko died, we had an extensive exchange of emails regarding Indian Yellow (dual tone) dichromatic pigments. His last email said to stock up on PY153 before supplies run out. (I did.) Here is a link to one of his web pages that gives an extensive list of those beautiful pigments. It focuses on his favorite dichromatic pigment PY 153. http://www.realcolorwheel.com/indianyellowtobrownPY153.htm Follow the other links on that page to learn about these pigments. BTW, if you mix natural and synthetic pigments, you are combing fugitive and permanent colorants. That is a recipe for a time bomb. Bruce Carlson told me how some not very old violins come to him for repair work. He sees where the natural cochineal/madder faded but the synthetic Prussian Blue, a color complement darkening reds, remained strong. Yep, a blue haze permeates that varnish. So, please stop repeating the erroneous claim that ALL artist pigments are monochromatic. They are not. Moreover, dichromatic effects can be nicely achieved by combining pigments. I have submitted to the VSA Journal a paper related to this subject. That process started 6 months ago. Hope I’m around to see it get published.

Thank you . This means a lot to me.

A few of these makers confuse the intention or objective of their recipe. That is, are they proposing ingredients as candidates for an historically accurate Cremonese recipe, or are the ingredients good for producing a varnish system that looks similar to or perhaps even better than Cremonese instruments? I hope everyone understands this. As for myself, I do both, but now tend to ignore historical ingredients because they are unstable and strongly dependent on the application procedure.

Thanks. I try not to dwell on the bad aspects in my life. Anyhow, let’s return to talking about varnish not me. Sometime this month I will be reporting on my progress, or lack thereof, with the Coronaviolin. Stay tuned.

It’s called bullet therapy. Too early. That is not in the cards with this lung cancer. I have some of the best doctors in NJ working for me, including a 20 physician board reviewing my care regimen. Life is good.

I wrote this from my hospital bed still on pain killers. Now, I appreciate how I should not post nor drive.

@David Burgess I suggest that you start a Contemporary Makers thread illustrating photos of your workmanship with bee stings, scrolls, edge work, etc. I know you are an accomplished photographer. Claim copyright protection to control use of you need it.

I control the burning of stain like the old artists, namely I make a distemper.

Great job, @BassClef.

Happy New Year.

I use 0.020” blue spring steel stock for scrapers.

My misguided vitriol was direct at this. I’m glad that we straightened this out. It is time to move on.

Why give a detailed, thoughtful, and informative response when you can just call the OP a friggin’ hack? Well, your ad hominem attack did exactly that. I want discussions that help me make a better fiddle. I will determine for myself who is experienced and knowledgeable (like you) or just blowing smoke. Moreover, I do not want your personal feud to kill an informative thread like this.

It was a rhetorical question. What’s so difficult to figure out about that?

WTF does that have to do with bee stings?

Very nice. I like the muted color, not strident.

I hang the violin by the neck’s throat. I made a small coat hanger, tied a thin cord loop to its ends. This keeps the cord away from the drying neck varnish. The hanger attaches to a rotating motor, ~3 RPM.

My questions are to equisetum users. How is equisetum better than anything else? That is, what makes equisetum a necessity to finishing your instruments? How do your instruments look better?

Protein-stabilized annatto. I will give details soon. Stay tuned.

Kremer’s website always had issues. Back order PR179 to have a supply on hand. You will like it. I will be doing some experiments soon with it. Stay tuned.

Don’t be cheap with buying a good brush. Also, is this for oil or spirit varnish? I use Da Vinci Impasto 24, #7105 for oil varnish.