Thomas Coleman

I have not. Thanks for the heads-up Joe. I'll add it to my reading list.

I mention this only in the spirit of safety, but DO NOT use UVC bulbs for tanning. UVC is used for germicidal purposes. Edit: I see now that I misunderstood! Please, use the UVC for tanning your instrument! :-)

This is the data for the bulbs I use.

They still look much different than a regular florescent. I guess the difference between them and the purple blacklight is the lack of a coating on the inside.

I don't know about reef tank bulbs. Maybe some people use them for that. They are blacklights but not your traditional hippy flourescent poster blacklights. They will easily dry any oil varnish that I've used. I never have tried to apply more than one coat in a 24 hour period but I know that with some varnish that i've used it can be done https://www.lightbulbs.com/product/philips-286716 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blacklight

I use 8 18w 24" Philips Master Actinic bulbs. I get them from lightbulbs dot com. part number PL286716 Ive also bought PH286708 from topbulb dot com I got the lead on these from the Oldwood 1700 website. They work very well for curing varnish, only so so for UV tanning.

Sorry, I can't speak to the fiddle, but I feel your pain! Navy movers crushed part of the top of an Octave Mandolin I made. argh!!

The color by itself is nice but I often stain with tea.

I agree, we are fourtunate. If you're (the masses) still searching around for Strads "secret" varnish, I wish you all the luck. I truly do.

I do believe @joerobson used to own Tried and True. Maybe he'll chime in.

Right, but I meant specifically at the process the photo in the article was taken at.

I read it. Just as a point of reference, the second photo is captioned "Lucas at work with a reed". ? . I can't imagine anyone using any type of "reed" (equisetum?) in the photo. That alone leads me to question other technical bits.

I didn't read the article but perhaps he's using spirit varnish? Usually less color in spirit and it tends to be put on in thinner layers because it's so hard to get a consistent color without streaks/blotching. Many coats are needed to build the color up. Just a guess.

I was wondering if anyone has tried the new Korolia bridges and what did they think of them?

Looks nice!