Baroque

The question title is really the whole question.

But the strange thing is that it started happening only after I put on the new Evah strings, and it is particularly bad on the D and A strings. It seems string-related. It never happened before on other strings, with that very same old rosin.

I am having a strange problem with my violin. I have put a set of Evah Pirazzi strings on them, G-E, where they have a superb sound, however, the rosin I use, which is an old (very old - 40 years at least) Piranhito rosin (which should be very good no longer for sale), gives a strange effect on the bow. The bow does not fully attach to the strings, and glides of sometimes, even though I apply a lot of rosin on it. Then I try another old bow, and the same thing happens there. Then I try a new bow, and also the same there. I wonder, is this the rosin, which is very old, or is this the type of strings? Thanks

Hi, a rapid search on Abebooks for luthier books show a few hits https://www.abebooks.fr/products/isbn/9780962067358?cm_sp=rec-_-pd_detail-1-d_0-_-plp&reftag=pd_detail-1-d_0 but no hits on gut-stringed baroque-style violins. Does anyone have a suggestion of a good book on the measurements of baroque-styled gut stringed violins? Thanks

Hi I have been trying to using walnut oil instead of linseed oil for a couple of reasons, and after trying several times, I am still having problems getting a varnish out of it. I take 100 ml of resin, boil it at 170-190 degrees for 1 hr, then warm the walnut 20ml oil to the same temperature, and mix them together and keep them at boiling point for about half an hour. Then, after cooling to 120 degrees, I add warm turpentine, about 30 ml. The final product is not impressive, I get a thick and dense mass precipitating at the bottom - rather similar to tar, and a liquid phase on top of it which never mixes with the dense part, which apparently never dries. Did I boil too long or too short time, or too low temperature? Any ideas? Thank you!

Thanks, I looked though your material, but I could not find one explanation on how to treat RAW resin, taken straight from the tree, AVOIDING the KOH method completely, and thus, boil it, mix it with oil/or turpentine, and at which temperature, and for how long time. Does anyone know of the method that boils resin+oil together instead of the KOH(or carbonate)+resin method? Thanks

Thank you!!

Hi, I noticed all the replies. In sum, the Michelman method pulverizes resin to powder by 6 nights of stirring in 1% KOH solution. The method makes nice varnish coatings, but they lack substance compared to boiled resin+oil+terpentine. What I wonder is how does one color the resin-oil-turpentine sufficiently to get a strong color compared to a "tone" of a color? I would like to make a brown/orange tone to the resin+oil+turpentine, which is applies after cooking (no use of KOH at all.) Thanks!

Thanks. I will try to sandpaper using some turpentine and oil together, so it will dry the sticky layer. Do you have experience in that UV irradiation dries also the coating below the "sticky" surface with time? I am wondering if UV transforms even the sticky sublayers, which appear when sanding.

Hi, I have applied a varnish according to Michelman, and it remains rather sticky on the surface, even though I use siccative. It takes long time to become non-sticky, and after it has hardened, it remains sticky beneath, that is, using sandpaper high grit to polish does not "glide" on the surface as dry, but remains stuck in friction. I am afraid this may worsen the acoustics, and am irradiating the violin heavily with strong UV lamp. Any ideas what I should do? Thanks

Dear all, I dissolved 100g of granulated Burgundy rosin in 1% KOH, and let it dissolve by moderate vortxing over 6 days. After six days it had an amber color, but after a few hours it all accumulated on the bottom and appeared as powder which did not dissolve at all. The clear phase had a weak oily reflection, but it contained evidently so little Potassium Rosinate, that it gave no foam production when blended with Aluminium Potassium Sulphate (5% soln). Are there better approaches to make Aluminium Rosinate? Thanks!

Thanks to both! It really helps. All the best

Hi, I have used up to a sandpaper with 600 grit to polish the wood surface of a maple back of a violin before shellac is applied, however, I noticed that inversely to lacque surface, increase grit value (towards 2000) does not give a clear and shiny view of the flames on the untreated wood surface. What can I use to magnify and enhance the flame on the wood , before I apply the shellac? Thanks

Hi, I just glued to halves of the maple back, and I got a split of 0.1-0.2 mm wide, however only on the surface. There is no light visible through, but the split width is visible from the backside of the back, so it may be visible at the end of the process. Is there anything I can do to fix this? Thanks!