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Varnish

 
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actonern
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Joined: 15 Aug 2007
Posts: 444

PostPosted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:17 am    Post subject: Varnish Reply with quote

Gregg Alf, interviewed in the February 2008 issue of "The Strad" says this about varnishing...

"I would say that a violin is about half done when it's finished in the white, so apart from the set-up, nearly half the process is varnishing."

I found this to be a very surprising statement. He's talking in general terms here, not just about historical copy work.

I don't know if he's counting drying time between coats in the "half" calculus, but can this be so if you only count "productive" bench time?

Rough numbers; 1 hour to rub tripoli & varnish paste into wood... 10 minutes to apply first ground coat... 30 minutes to rub down "pimples"... 1 hour to prepare & apply first color coat... another hour for the second... 10 minutes for the final top coat... 2 hours for final rub-down.

I may have the numbers screwed up, but the instrument itself takes longer than that to build in the white... what am I missing?
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Jack H.
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Joined: 24 Mar 2007
Posts: 346
Location: Israel

PostPosted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 1:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I do not think he was talking about the actual time it takes to varnish and rub out and polish, I think it is a refference to, ok, the violin is done in white, the wood work is done and finihsed, not comes the equally hard task of making it look good in varnish, a bad varnish job will ruin the effect of the best wood work.
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actonern
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Joined: 15 Aug 2007
Posts: 444

PostPosted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 3:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hmmm... not to quibble, but he's not speaking figuratively in the article...

"My time is divided fairly equally between the two." (making and varnishing.)
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Jack H.
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Joined: 24 Mar 2007
Posts: 346
Location: Israel

PostPosted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 9:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I guess I should have read the atricle before typing.
I still can't see that it would take Greg over 100 hours to varnish an instrument.

Perhaps he is talking about half the time he is making new instruments and half the time he is playing with varnish experiments...

Not to quibble back, but you do quote him as saying that the instrument is half done in the white...
on a separate quote you have him saying that half his time is making and half his time is varnishing... the 2 quotes do not necessarily have to be connected. he may spend half his time playing with varnish as opposed to making and a violin can also be half done in the white, leaving half of the difficulty in doing the varnish...

I will look for the article to see if I can glean anythign from it... Heck. give him a call and ask him...
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KenN
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Joined: 27 Mar 2007
Posts: 89
Location: Goodrich, MI

PostPosted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 12:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I read into it that the instrument making was done when he started varnishing and he spent the other half of the time doing varnish and set-up/tuning. He mentions that he takes the top off for the last time for final adjustments before putting the final coat on. So, half the time is getting it made and the other half is putting on the finish and tweaking it.
I could be wrong.
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MANFIO
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Joined: 11 Apr 2007
Posts: 458
Location: Sao Paulo

PostPosted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 8:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I varnish (oil varnish) in one or two weaks. But I'll keep working with the set up of the new instrument for about two months after finishing it, and that envolves:

1 - the neck will give in a bit, so I'll have to adjust the bridge some times;
2 - the instrument will need about 2 or 3 new longer soundposts;
3 - the varnish must cure till the instrument sounds open;
4 - I'll play the instrument everyday in this period;
5 - photos will be taken for the certificate;
6 - the last step is the approval by my official test driver, Andrès Lepage, only when he gives his OK I'll dispatch the instrument.
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