Violin Forum/Message Board

The grain ideally should be perpendicular to the sides of the head of the bow, or just off perpendicular. This grain orientation is the strongest. If the grain is parallel to the sides of the head, ...

Jeffrey, do you find that the a rib which has been doubled is always much stiffer than before (even though it is the same thickness of the original after finishing)?

Hi Andres, I do it by hand. Basically, using a hand-made spade bit, I align the shaft of the stick with that of the drill bit as it projects out of the bow drill. Then I begin bowing with the bow ( ...

Jeffrey, can you advise where to get "matting compound" and the silica gel you mentioned? Also, I'm assuming all your retouching is done with spirit varnishes. Do you ever use dry colors, ...

I just looked up "washing soda" on Google - here's a definition:
washing soda
n : a sodium salt of carbonic acid; used in making soap powders
and glass and paper bicarbonat ...

when glazing with oil paints cut with liquin, how long do you have to wait for the glaze to dry if you are using spirit varnish? It seems to me that oil paints take a long time to really dry, so if y ...

Hi, I bend bone tips in a wood block setup. The curve of the wood blocks matches (or slightly exceeds) the curvature of the bow face you are trying to prepare the bone for. The bone is soaked in hot ...

I have a violin to clean up that is very musty and mildew-smelling. Any suggestions on cleaning it, and polish to use (if any) that will not interfere with crack repairs?

For the tip, I make mine about 8mm deep, with the lower edge of the mortice (the one nearest the frog) at least 5mm from the lower edge of the head. The top edge of the mortice (closest to the tip) i ...

Hi All - I need to buy some sterling silver tinsel for lapping, but I dont see it for sale at my usual supplier(s). Any recommendations? Also, I'm looking for a good supplier of snakewood and bannia ...

Thanks for your reply, Jeffrey. I appreciate the help.

Jeffrey, could you elaborate on methods to repair an open back seam? I have one to do which is open starting below the upper block to about 1/3 the back length. Top off, no doubt, or perhaps back of ...

Hi Jack - there is not a lot of sideways give to the stick. I just tried it again and maybe I'm just too demanding about there being no vibrating/shivering of the stick. It is still only roughly gra ...

Thanks, Jack. I believe you're correct about the over-working. The stick itself seemed to be high quality wood. Of course, it's possible it had a defect (other than the guy working on it - me:))

Hi Mat, - by shiver I mean that the bow begins to vibrate/bounce at certain points when drawn evenly from frog to tip on one string only (I usually use the D string on a violin). My typical method fo ...