Nick Allen

Ha! I do have a large jar of old dust and a pot of powdered rosin that I use for this part.

That's a good idea, actually. I'm looking for something that can help get a convincing interior look, like, not just pleasant, but the actual real interior of a hastily made 17th/18th century Italian. The color is some combination of yellow, black and green that's very hard to replicate. Most traditional options end up leaning far too warm. But I'm definitely going to try this one, thank you.

Any here just use the single trapezoid wedge? That's what I do, because it facilitates sloppy rib bending...

Hey guys. I've been exploring different methods for staining the interiors of my violins to look convincing. I've been told about a stain called Iron(ii) Nitrite. Fe (NO2)2. It can be made with easy to find precursors, which are Iron(ii) Chloride and Sodium Nitrite. They are supposed to yield iron (ii) nitrite and Sodium Chloride in aqueous solution. Has anyone used or toyed with this one? I made some not too long ago, but instead used potassium nitrite as the precursor in substitution because it's easier to acquire. It made an interesting orange liquid and subsequent brown, heavier than air gas that was quite unpleasant. But the wood color was beautiful that it created. A true neutral brown that looks just like an old fiddle interior. Not too pink or orange. Has anyone used this? Is it any different in practice to ferric nitrate?

Hi guys, So I had an idea. Recently, I purchased a set of LED germicidal strip lights. They tan the shit out of wood in very short order. Nice. But, since they are in a sticky strip, mounting them in a square container is kinda awkward. So I had a plan. I was thinking of getting one of those 12" concrete form tubes, cutting it to like, 18" long, lining it with foil, and sticking my LED strip down in a spiral. Then adding a fan to the bottom and also my reptile mister for humidity control. The LEDs don't give off much heat, which is nice, so I just want some gentile airflow. Lately, I'm only making violins and only plan to make violins for the foreseeable future, so a smaller unit would suit me. Does this sound like a daft idea? I like the concept of a cylindrical chamber, which can keep the light source at a constant distance while the instrument spins on a disco motor like a rotisserie. Am I missing something?

I'm glad I'm not the only one lol.

Has anyone ever considered Occam's Razor in these kind of musings?

Lately Tom Croen has been pumping out some of the best small violas that I've ever heard. Like, 15 1/4" small. But they sound huge.

The top drawer players just seem to know what they want and are much more decisive. You're spot on here. They value responsiveness and playability. Tone and looks seem to be second, really. The amateurs seem to overthink more than anyone. You can sometimes tell that when they have already tried 200 violins, it's not actually about finding a violin.

I wasn't considering using just clear for the initial sealer, and then colored spirit after that, for some reason. But isn't this a pretty common varnishing system?

I think it's a result of how the f holes were laid out originally. The Cremonese would lay them out according to the scribe line from the ribs under the edge. Because the instruments were made on an inside form, and so the ribs were not always perfect to that form once bent and glued on, it would turn create some asymmetry. So when you apply the system of laying out the upper and lower holes, they often aren't always in places you'd predict initially. So often, the lower and upper holes were further, or closer to one another one one side or another. It's posited that Strad used an inside template for the f hole stems, and would flex it to meet the upper and lower holes. So, sometimes, the stems would run into the holes at a more steep or flat inclination, making the resulting discrepancies you're seeing here. I honestly don't believe that they were designed with any kind of grand or elegant system. Two holes determined by the outline, and a precut stem that they fudged to fit.

If you simply put colored shellac on the fiddle, it would probably appear to be a blotchy mess.

Bjorn is one of the best.

I get the effect by scraping with a dull scraper, preferably ground to a 90° angle. This will allow it to scrape the harder winter grain away, while compressing the summer grain down as it goes, because the edge isn't sharp enough to cut the soft winter grain. Think of it kind of like having a cold chisel for stone. It's not actually very sharp at all, but it removes hard materials quite easily. But if you tried to use it on something like cotton, or a pillow, it would only squish it. You'll see the effect after you've scraped it. Once the summer grain puffs back out. You can wet it or hand it up for a few days in a humid area to see. The grain will puff back up. Now, when you varnish, the varnish will sit in the valleys, looking darker. Along with any patina applied. Then. You can polish the instrument, which will provide the contrast you're looking for when you remove varnish from the high spots (summer grain).

Yeah, I always just do some basic touch up with cases like this. That's all it needs here. OP just get rid of anything that catches the eye and breaks visual continuity.