Oil Based Varnish Mix

[ozziebluesman]

Hello to you all,
A builder friend of mine asked me a question the other day about hand finish.
He would like to use an oil based varnish recipe to finish a violin.
Apparently there are spirit based finish recipe's as well.
I know very little so if anyone has some thoughts I would be very interested.
Thank you.
Alan

[Mark McLean]

Lots of options with oil based finishes, applied by hand. I have done this in all five guitars that i have built. Danish oil is often used but I find it is a bit slow to cure , and this is likely to be worse in tropical areas like yours Alan. Tru Oil has been used by lots of folks for guitars and I have done two with this finish. It is marketed as a gun stock finish (buy it from gun shops). It dries very hard and tough. If you slowly build many layers it can be levelled and buffed out to a very gloss finish. It also looks as a satin finish, which is a lot less work. I have also used "Hard Wax Oil" which is a product for hardwood flooring. Easy to apply by hand and it is very hard when dry. None of these are going to achieve a glass-like high gloss nitro type of finish loke most factory built guitars. I actually don't like that anyway. If your mate is making a violin then a gloss finish is not the usual thing anyway.

[Allen]

This might be of some help Alan.

http://www.liutaiomottola.com/PrevPubs/ ... arnish.htm

[ozziebluesman]

Thanks Allen

[ozziebluesman]

Thanks Mark.
I was more interested in some of the old style varnish recipes used by the Luthiers of yesterday.
I think they keep their finish process close to their chest as there are probably years of experimenting gone into getting their particular process and recipe right.
Cheers

[kiwigeo]

Thanks Mark.
I was more interested in some of the old style varnish recipes used by the Luthiers of yesterday.
I think they keep their finish process close to their chest as there are probably years of experimenting gone into getting their particular process and recipe right.
Cheers

Aaaah yes....those "secret" recipes.....well now you know why theyre called "secret".

Ive got a library full of GAL mags and Big Red Books and I recall there being a few articles on violin finishing..Ill have a look and see what I can find for you. In the mean time....here's one interesting site: https://www.violins.ca/varnish/violin_v ... cipes.html

[blackalex1952]

In the mean time....here's one interesting site: https://www.violins.ca/varnish/violin_v ... cipes.html

Interesting. On the same website, a glossary of some of the ingredients:https://www.violins.ca/varnish/violin_v ... ssary.html

[ozziebluesman]

Thank you Martin that is the information that I am looking for. I mean you will obviously test the potion on some scrap and see if it's going to do what you want.
Cheers
Al