Violin: Varnish & Final Setup

This is the final instalment of making the violin series. I hope you have enjoyed watching as much as I have enjoyed making it!! I will be posting some video of the violin being played for the first time shortly.

Music: Beethoven - Quartet No. 8 in E Minor, Op. 59, No. 2

[thatskewl]

I was fortunate enough to come across, and be mesmerized by, this series today...all I can say is WOW!! What an incredible gift you have (and have shared with us)...the craftsmanship, patience, precision, and care you displayed were a joy to behold. You should be proud of that work...and I am very thankful for being able to see the effort involved in the creation of such a beautiful instrument. Hats off to you sir!!

[bobmunoz]

Lovely stuff David. Thank you for sharing this. The use of traditional tools, attention to detail, and elegant craftsmanship are inspirational.

[johnalexander]

Wow. Lots of hateful comments. Easy to sit back and judge. I, for one, appreciate the work and the video. It takes courage to put yourself out there. Varnishing is an art form unto itself. It maybe more difficult than the woodworking for many builders. Thanks for posting my friend.

[GrowLLLTigeRRR]

Very nice workmanship. The color was a shock! The beautiful maple figuring is now difficult to appreciate.

[pedrotalavera]

It looks beautiful, i liked when the clamp flew off

[vladykohai]

Very nice work! Thank you for the videos posted and the website!

[serdarcakrer]

This is wonderfull varnishing. Thank you very much  for sharing this kind of videos.

[traditionalirishmusic]

I will be honest, and I hope you don’t take offence, but the instrument looked far better before the colours were applied. Excellent workmanship and amazing crafting, The original wood varnished was beautiful. After the finish it looked like a cheap stentor student violin, I really don’t mean to cause offence by saying this.

[cellokid]

Very very nice build, but the varnish ended up lookin kinda cheap. Doesn't reflect the precision and hours of work you've put into it

[tropicjam]

Hello david. Thanks for posting;interesting technic;but i think(that s personal opinion)you should have put more yellow in the preparation of the colour in order to "smoothen" the brightness of the red that looks a bit to flashy i think;and also the varnished has been ovetsaturated by the colour preparation and ruins the transparency of the whole;in order to get more colour in the varnish at its very beginning its better to use an already coloured oil;properly cooked and oxygenated it looks reddish so you have less red colour to add to your varnish and also by cooking something like 4 hours the resins at 250 you will get a intense yellow varnish and by adding directly dragonblood resin in the cooked resins at the end of the cooking you will get italian cremonese colour. Once applied one a brown orange ground applied on the wood you will get a magnificent golden brown. Have a good time!

[gijsbertuslaurensvandevooren]

Why the paint? The wood is beautiful as it is.

[timeisapathwalkingtounderstand]

Good job putting the violin together. It's Friday November 29th 9:06pm N.Y.C 17th Street Barnes and Nobles looking at this video trying to learn how to repair my violin. I give this video a thumbs up.

[cadcamcnc]

Hello, what products should I use while polishing, can you help me?

[robertl]

I thought I was the only one crazy enough to do a bright red violin. Just a by the way alcohol ink mixed with your varnish will really help with the transparency and depth. Your color will become less wash more depth and you will need fewer coats. Just something to experiment with

[johannesgutenberg]

that's a pink violin if I've ever seen one.

[capitanvonchickenpants]

Guess I'm not the only one who prefers the non colour finish

[bobtempario]

If you want a more authentic looking red try dragon's blood resin. Hard to find sometimes, but it's historically used as a pigment for instruments. Great build by the way!

[oldfogeymusic]

Nice series. I think you left one item out of your final setup, though, unless you've developed a brand-new violin design that doesn’t use a soundpost…

[corneliuslam]

Why do you brush on the later clear layers instead of rubbing them on with your fingers like the first and pigment layers?

[josefgajda]

The first coat of pink color was enaugh, the second and subsequent should be dark braun with trace of red