Brandon_Williams

Medical bills :/

**Prices Reduced** **I really need to move this stuff to pay off some medical bills. Please see new prices below** I have a whole tool kit for sale. I would like to sell it all as a lot, but have listed it in smaller lots that I would be willing to sell. This would be a great starter set of tools for someone just getting into instrument making. Email zbmw252012@gmail.com or text 423-367-1434. Shipping will be calculated at the time of purchase and will be in addition to listed prices. Buy the whole lot for $900 (this is well over $1500 worth of stuff) plus shipping. Most tools were purchased from Int. Violin Co. Ibex finger planes: $185 60MM flat sole with regular blade and extra toothed blade 47MM arched sole 25MM flat sole 25MM arched sole General tools: $185 Violin knife set (1 small and 1 large) Corner block in cannel gouge Roughing gouge Purfling router bits (2) Small card scrapers (2) Spiral reamer Digital thicknessing calipers Purfling cutter and pick Books/DVDs/Mold: $100 Strobel book Strad mold and templates Strad thicknessing maps Finishing DVDs Steam bender with strap: $90 Glue pot with 1 pound of glue and 2 seam separators: $85 Finishing: $30 Various varnish from IVC Digital Scale Abrasive powders Wood and Parts: $180 Well flamed maple back Well flamed maple necks (2) Spruce tops from Simeon Chambers (3) Rib set Purfling Linings Pegs (24) End Pins (13) Saddles (13) Strings (3 sets plus some extras) Fingerboards (4 with nut and 1 without) Bridges (7) Stanley divider box for parts Chinrest and tailpiece (2 each) Setup tools: $85 Chinrest wrench Neck height tool Peg shaver Bridge template and fitting tool Soundpost setter Soundpost gauge and cutting tool Tuner Peg Drops

Pierre, I just opened the Swiss Made gouges... Thank you so much, I really appreciate the good price and that you packaged them so carefully! Thanks again!!!

Hello Pierre, I am interested in a couple of things, could you email me at zbmw252012@gmail.com Thank you!

Just spoke with Joe Robson, First of all, it just goes to show how cool a forum like this is that someone with such limited experience as I could be muddling along and get one to one advice from a professional... that's awesome. Secondly, Joe is very nice and offered me some great advice, which after I try and if he doesn't mind I will share here. Thanks to Joe, and to all of the others here on MN who are willing to spend their time to give good advice to folks who are trying to learn!

Haha... it just so happens I am in here right now, probably about to make a mess with some varnish experiments, which will annoy me (both for the mess and because I'm fooling with varnish lol). I should have confessed earlier, I suppose, that my shop is also my "man cave" of sorts. I'm just a hobbyist woodworker/maker... if I were trying to make instruments to sell I may relax a little on the neatness point. As it is now, I usually get an hour or two a day in here (more this week because I'm on vacation )... that being said, sometimes that hour or two is spent working on an instrument or other woodworking project, and sometimes it is spent simply decompressing from a long day at work... you may have noticed the mini-fridge in the corner, I keep working batches of hide glue in there, along with bottled water and other beverages reserved for those decompression days

I am not sure... It is the stuff marketed by IVC in the US listed as "JOHA Oil Varnish"

Hi Nick, I got a small bottle of Amber, Golden Brown, Brown, and Red Brown. To me all of them seem to be too light straight out of the bottle. I also ordered some of the color extract in Amber, Golden Brown, and Red Brown. So far I have only tried a few combos of mixing the varnish with additional extract, but my favorite final color has been to add about 1cc of Red Brown extract to a small amount of varnish (didn't measure, just enough to do a single coat). The color looks quite nice, and if it would remain pliable for maybe 10 or 15 minutes longer I think it would give me enough time to get it on and moved around to where I would be satisfied with it. I do put the bare white instrument in the light cabinet for a few days to get as much tan as possible, and then have been using amber shellac cut to 4 parts alcohol 1 part shellac for a ground. The final ground application leaves a very nice amber colored base. I really think I could get to where I want to be in terms of final color if I could just keep the stuff wet just a tad longer. I will say though, that the "quick" drying quality of this stuff is quite nice in terms of being able to get back to it and on to the next coat/step without waiting for ages. Thanks Jacob, I will try this. I suspected that might be the best course of action. That reminds me, though, do you or any other members have recommendations for linseed oils? I got some Winsor Newton from the local craft store a few months back to make a batch of Michael Darnton's mastic varnish, but I'm not sure if I got the correct kind. I seem to recall there being two or three types to choose from, and I don't remember which one I purchased... it seemed pricey to me, I think it was about $14 for 2.5 oz.

Thanks MANFIO, I am quite fond of it myself! I, though, am envious of the quality of work you and other Maestronet contributors are turning out! I hope to get there one day, but it is a slow process without any formal training and only a couple hours here and there to tinker with it.

Here are a few pics of my shop. The boxes in the corner are a ductless mini split heat pump that I've since installed... it drove me nuts to have it sitting there taking up space as long as it did. Some of my friends make fun of me for being OCD/anal retentive about being neat, but it's just my personality. I like to keep things tidy, it helps me concentrate on whatever I'm working on. If there are too many shavings on the floor I start to get anxious about the mess and stop concentrating on what I'm doing... which reminds me, I saw some shavings and sawdust under the edge of one of the cabinets tonight that I need to clean up before I start working tomorrow. Lol, it's silly, but in many ways it is my reality. It gets in the way of being very productive from time to time... but hey, this is a hobby for me, so I figure I need to keep myself happy for the few hours I get in the shop, otherwise I really won't be productive at all. There is a link to an iCloud album on my profile that shows the ever changing state of my shop. Feel free to take a look and make recommendations on how I could improve it... making the shop better is a VERY close second favorite hobby of mine

So I got a few different colors of the JOHA oil varnish from IVC... I am quite pleased with it save for two points: 1 - it isn't dark enough. I've remedied this by adding color extract, so this is no big deal. 2 - it dries too fast... that may sound like an oxymoron, but I assure you it isn't. I did a little digging and found an old thread from 2008 that raised the same concern. I just tried one of the suggestions which was to thin the varnish with turpentine. That helped some; but it still dries too fast to be able to move it around to the point I am satisfied with it. I wound up with a belly and back that are 75% nice and 25% streaky/blotchy. Luckily I am doing this on some cheap white violins bought for varnish testing purposes, so it's not a total disaster. My question is: are any of you all using this/ experiencing the same issue? If so, have you cracked the code on how to alter it so that it remains workable long enough to varnish without being in a hurry, but retains some of the "quick" drying characteristics that make it nice from the oil varnish standpoint? I'd love to hear your recs on the issue if so. Ive been wood working for years, and finishing has always been a thorn in my side. I hate it... every aspect of it. That's why I'm looking for the closest thing that is "out of the box" ready for a decent finish on my first few fiddles. I have two done, and am getting close to a third... I'd like to make them look OK as far as varnish goes, but I'm not quite ready to dig in full time to perfecting a unique technique... I'm still learning the making process. Thanks for for all of your help!

First, thanks to everyone for all of the input and advice! Nick, I ordered mine on eBay, I think it was about $20 for 100g. I followed Michael's recipe and made a small batch of the varnish using 60g of mastic and about 2fl oz of artist linseed oil. I'd say all told I've got $25 in about a pint of the varnish.

I need some help. I've completed #1 and have been stalled at the varnish stage for some time. I'm finally ready to start that varnish process... I'm using the cold mastic method described by Michael Darnton, but I'm a little concerned about adding color to the varnish. I'm using artist oil paints, mainly for the convenience of being able to get them without ordering and waiting for shipping and further processing. My question is, can anyone tell me what proportion of color (raw oil paints mixed to a desirable color) to add to a quantity of the prepared cold mastic varnish? I know there are a lot of variables at play here, but if anyone out there uses this combo (mastic varnish and oil colors) could you please describe your process of adding the color, as specifically as possible? Thank you!

I would be willing to chip in on a group investment for this sort of thing. I would love to have a precise build kit and not have to go through the trouble of making it. Sometimes making tools and such can be fun, but then again sometimes it gets to be quite irritating!

I recently purchased the "cremonese" model of this kit from IVC... I actually ordered the messiah model, but they were out and I settled for the one I got. I am an absolute beginner, and decided to order this kit for my second violin as a means of eliminating some of my own errors. With that being said, and with my amateur ability and understanding in mind, I am not really impressed with the kit especially considering the price. My main complaints to date (I'm at the point that I've bent and secured ribs and linings to the mold, and traced and cut front and back plates) are as follows: 1: the mold itself has a strange cutout meant to help facilitate the use of various types of clamps... It has been annoying to me. I think a purpose built mold with clamping features meant to match what you do makes a lot more sense. 2: the arching templates (and other made of black plastic) are brittle. If you're not carful you can break them just trying to pop them out of the perforations. 3: the kit comes with corner and end block templates, but I think it would have been helpful if there was a corner detail template in clear material provided. 4: (biggest gripe) after securing the ribs to the mold and comparing it to the belly and back plate template, something isn't sized correctly. The overhangs and corners do not line up like they should. For me, the belly/back template seems pretty much useless since it doesn't seem to match up with the mold. All in all I am not super impressed with the kit, but then again it is probably a better mold than I would have made myself. If I had it to do over again I doubt I would have purchased it.