Brandon Posted January 15, 1999 Report Share Posted January 15, 1999 Does anyone know how sensitive violins are to temperature changes during shipping? If you go from several degrees above freezing to 20 degrees or so below freezing and then back (e.g. shipping by air transport) will this hurt the violin? Is it better to ship by ground? (Of course, by ground, your violin could go from a warm warehouse to a freezing cold transport truck anyways.) Please, I'm having a violin shipped to me and I need some expert advice soon. Thanks. Brandon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenny Posted January 15, 1999 Report Share Posted January 15, 1999 there was quite a lot of information about this subject in some posts late last year, I think. It would be worth doing a search in the archives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Posted January 15, 1999 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 1999 : there was quite a lot of information about this subject in some posts late last year, I think. It would be worth doing a search in the archives. My dad did many searches to try to see if this had been answered previously, but did not come up with a good match on his search. If anyone has some knowledge in this regard, I would be grateful for your post. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted January 16, 1999 Report Share Posted January 16, 1999 : Does anyone know how sensitive violins are to temperature changes during shipping? If you go from several degrees above freezing to 20 degrees or so below freezing and then back (e.g. shipping by air transport) will this hurt the violin? Is it better to ship by ground? (Of course, by ground, your violin could go from a warm warehouse to a freezing cold transport truck anyways.) : Please, I'm having a violin shipped to me and I need some expert advice soon. Thanks. : Brandon. Hi Guy, Please don't think that I am an expert - just a repair guy with an opinion. The coeeicient of thermal expansion will differ for the various wood involved. I think the key ekement is the slope of the heat up and cool down transients. It is all relative and probably the most critical is to have a gradual temperature change . This is beyond your control so have the instrument shipped insurred irrelevant of the mode of transportation. There are some things that could be done like loosen the strings, drop the sound post have it packed good so mechanical shock is minimized. Thermal shock is beyond your or anyones control. good luck Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted January 16, 1999 Report Share Posted January 16, 1999 Hi, Brandon. Violins are very sensitive to temperature changes. I'm an amature violin maker and have been playing the violin for almost 10 years. Violins are held together with animal hide glue. The glue begins as little pellets (for lack of a better word), they are put into cold water until they gel, then they are heated in a double boiler. What does all this mean? It means that the glue is water based, water freezes at 0C of 32F, therefore the glue can lose its strength. At high tempreatures, 200 or above, the varnish will begin to (and again, for lack of a better word) melt. Also, above 100C or 212F the glue will melt. You should call whoever is going to ship it and ask about shipping options, ie. what type of truck, etc. Hope this helped, Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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