Violin Forum/Message Board

[rs]

...as opposed to a "burning question".

I have always liked the way wood looks after being handled a hundred years or so. The wood generally does not look exactly tanned, but has a slight coral or salmon cast to it (not pink!). I have always supposed this to be a chemical reaction to human perspiration over decades of wear, but it may be from another reagent and I may be jumping the gun.

I would appreciate any feedback from others on how to duplicate this, or more accurately, how to induce this appearance into new work. Any advice on burning, outside of sun tanning, would be greatly appreciated as I greatly wish to improve this scope of my work and I am not satisfied with my progress so far.

As always, I appreciate this forum and the contributions that are made by everyone here.

All the best,
Paco
_________________
Randall Shenefelt

[ctviolin]

[rs]

Bare wood before any sealer, ground or varnish is applied.
_________________
Randall Shenefelt

[ctviolin]

[DonLeister]

Craig, I think rs must mean on a white instrument before any sealer or ground is applied.

I don't know a short answer to your question rs. Chemicals like oxidizers come to mind as a way to make the wood look old but there is the risk that goes along with them.

I have used antiquing stains that H Core sells and they can look pretty good. I always wonder what is in them though. Core sells several kinds and in case you have not tried them, they are each a little different and the color can develope over time (day or two) and whether you use uv light...
I only do the neck with them these days and then I still do other things, like maybe a walnut stain or similar, on the neck that is.

Anything I put on the wood always reflects how I have prepared the wood, especially the scraping of the spruce. And the scraping of the spruce always reflects how well I have sharpened my scrapers, in other words things add up, as you know, I'm sure.

This last violin I put a couple of washes of fresh plaster of paris on the bare wood, smoothing after each coat. Call it a mineral ground , which it is, a tsp to 3/4 c. water. It is also alkali and oxidizes the wood some while at the same time increasing the contrast of the wood. It seems to seal the wood pretty well and when a clear coat of oil varnish or my version of a 'balsam ground' goes on it the plaster turns transparent and the wood color goes to a amber/grey, evenly I should add. It seems to help 'fix' the wood ( the p-o-p), especially the soft spruce so that it doesn't 're-compress' if I rub it.

I'll put some pics up in the other thread pretty soon, but you have to remember that the p-o-p ground is just a part of the process

[ctviolin]

[rs]

Don, those are good suggestions for me to experiment on. I have found the same problem with stains that you mention. I am looking for a way to add color to the wood as created through time (oxidation as potassium permanganate might do on a neck, for example) but also through handling (as 100 years of sweaty hands might do).

Craig, this gives a clearer idea what I am talking about, I think:
http://archive.music.ntnu.edu.tw/chimei/v-Ita0067.html

The color in that instrument is almost entirely in the wood, not the varnish, as wear replaced the varnish. I have seen some very fine color created through human contact and the color it often creates has a slight salmon cast to it.
_________________
Randall Shenefelt

[mikemolnar]

"Burning" to me is when a stain clogs up the pores and capillaries to give an unsightly dark pattern. I asked about staining in another thread. Any suggestions on avoiding this?

[Cliff Green]

I think that sun tanning or light box tanning gives the best color with Joe Robson's tinctures in his ground system a close second. I don't like the looks I got using oxidizers or stains, but perhaps I wasn't doing it correctly. It takes a long exposure to light to develop great color but it sure is nice if you have the time. I confess to being impatient.
Some of the best color I've seen in untreated wood was in wood that cattle have used as a rub, maybe oils from their coat combined with sunlight, but it looks exactly like the worn areas on old fiddles.

[rs]

If you apply raw turpentine to the areas where the grain is open, the ends for example, this often impedes some of the irregular color that telegraphs, "stained" or "stripped".

The actual color I am looking for will color the fiber and not just the pores, not unlike potassium permanganate or nitric acid might, for example, but with a rosier cast and without turning the instrument into a violin shaped wicker basket as in the latter chemical.

The cattle rub is a good description.
_________________
Randall Shenefelt

[ctviolin]