iburkard.worklog

So, I did it again. I've acquired another neglected violin.

I completed basic structural repairs and refinishing tonight. As far as structural problems go, this one was a sleeper- looked like junk, but was in really nice underneath. There was some very minor separation of the belly and neck, but nothing worrisome. I still need to cut a new sound post, reset the original nut (lifts and separated the string at the top of the neck) and make a new ebony saddle (lifts the tailpiece off of the top).

I had hoped that the scratches on the back plates weren't wood-deep, but they were. It looked as if someone used coarse sandpaper in a directionless fashion. To what end, I don't know. The scratches were then 'covered up' with some super dark varnish. It took about three hours of gentle sanding to remove the scratches, and the stains beneath the scratches (where varnish had entered the scratches and tinted the wood). I did my best to feather out the original finish (almost like a sunburst), so that my later applications of mild stain and shellac would blend in nicely. I also wanted to leave some proof of the violins age around the edges.

Two words... amber shellac. Amber shellac saved the look of this instrument. I usually use clear polyurethane and clear shellac finishes, with shellac being the richer of the two. I was worried that the wash I applied to the back plates was going to look milky and cool under clear shellac, so I decided to try out amber shellac. Four very thin coats later (thinned with denatured alcohol), the violin looks untouched.

The top plate was such a dull black and I thought that it had actually been stripped and painted matte black. Luckily it hadn't been painted, and after a lot of scrubbing, the black washed away to reveal a rich rusty red. The amber shellac made the deep rust color even warmer. It's such a nice contrast to the lighter ribs, and back. I'll post some better pictures as the project gets closer to completion.

Good news... I have all of the original parts, except the saddle (and bridge and strings of course).