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I have a prototype mandolin, original design. It's designed to fit a market niche that's not being addressed by any American makers. I've tested it with good players in the Midwest and on the East...

A note about shellac: It doesn't hold up to alcohol or heat / steam, but a few years ago I took some freshly made shellac and padded some on a piece of wood until I had built up a film. Not French...

FWIW, I know of one very famous violin maker who says he has used Ace spar varnish at times to good effect, and another not-so-famous one who really likes the stuff.

We take violins apart almost every day. Nobody in the shop uses heat to undo a hide glue joint. The joint always breaks well ahead of the opening knife, so heat would never get to it. We just find...

So would I!

I'd be impressed if I could type, too.

I'm over 60, grew up in the woodworking business using inches. Now I work on violins for a living, and I'm comfortable in both systems. I MUCH prefer metric for working in instruments, including my...

There's a guy in Bulgaria named Hristo Tzenoff, does business on fleabay under the name "eurodealing". I got several finger planes from him a year or so ago, and they are excellent. Well made, good...

That's an interesting booklet, but it has mainly academic interest, rather than practical. A lot of the recommendations have been found to be counterproductive. The use of linseed oil, especially....

We make a lot of violins and use our own oil varnish. The varnish guys just use disposable foam brushes, even on very expensive instruments. Works with our varnish system, which yields a very, ...

I'm making an educated guess based on experience, but the resins in Behlen's Water White Restoration varnish are probably soy alkyds, since they are the lightest colored varnish resins in common use....

I used about 500 gallons of lacquer a month for quite a few years, and managed to learn a little bit. One thing I learned is that cold check resistance is a factor which was tested in every batch of...

To 10 parts shellac, I add 1.5 parts by weight of Sandarac, and 1.5 parts Mastic. Makes a very good spirit varnish, and also great for touchup and French polishing.

For filling cracks, I use...

The Kansas State Fiddling and Picking Championships are this weekend, August 22 and 23.

Workshops (Mando Workshop by Scott Tichenor), Ice Cream Social and Contra Dance on Saturday

Contests and...

Got a source on that? Any data to substantiate? Any historical references, chemical analysis?

How was this varnish supposed to be prepared and applied?

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Nagyvary, 1984 -...

There are three problems with linseed oil ("bolied" or raw) that I can think of.

First it doesn't build a film. It soaks into the wood but doesn't build. Many luthiers find that oil soaking...

We make violins for professional players, among other things, and we stain the unvarnished neck a bit with dye stain, and give it a light coat of paraffin oil, rubbed in hard, and wiped off even...

http://www.kansasfiddlingandpicking.org/index.html

August 22-23, 2009

We're excited to present a "new and improved" fiddling and picking championships. In 2009 we are adding a dance, increasing...

As my 89 Y.O. mother has been known to say, "Getting old is not for sissies."

Any day I'm upright and sucking air is a good day. Everything else is icing on the cake.

Work for a maker of violin family instruments. Do a little bit of most everything.

Tru oil contains mineral spirits @56%, linseed oil 11%, and "modified oil" @33%. I presume the modfied oil is polymerized linseed oil, cooked to start it thickening. No mention of resins or dryers....

Naval Jelly's active ingredient is Phosphoric Acid, which turns iron oxide into iron phosphate which is water soluble. It removes rust, doesn't reduce it or turn it into sulfate..

I like...

Leo Posch in McLouth, KS, and Keith George north of Kansas City both do outstanding work.

Keith lives in the country and usually does work through music stores, but he's authorized repairman for...

I agree with the above posts, but if you really have to have them flat, here's a way:

Make a solution of 10% Glycerin and 90% water, put it in a clean spray bottle. Mist both sides of the wood. ...

We fix 250 year old cellos and such with a plaster caul and hot sandbags. Top has to come off, and it takes a while. Seems to me that bowed string instruments are a lot easier to take apart and...

The big show was in January in LA. The summer show will be in Nashville in July. http://www.namm.org/summer

It's a trade only show, and they are very strict about who they let in. Best to get...