Otis Tomas

The violin is now complete in the white, and ready to start the finishing process. There are probably as many ways to go about varnishing a violin as there are violin makers, and the varnish is certainly a signature of the individual maker. I seldom do two varnish jobs alike. I am constantly experimenting with new methods and materials, and that must be kept in mind through the description that follows. For a slightly different procedure you can read read the account on my website On Varnishing a Violin.
To start, it is important to pay attention to the surface preparation in the light of what one desires for the finished look. In this case I am going to treat the spruce of the belly somewhat differently from the maple of the rest of the instrument. It is a very different kind of material both visually and how it takes the varnish, so it's good to keep that in mind as one proceeds.The maple has a lot of visual interest in the flame or figure of the grain which can be accentuated to advantage by exploiting the different angles of end and side grain that result from the orientation of the grain in curling waves. On the other hand, the main visual interest of the top is in the lines of the grain itself, which will be the feature I want to emphasize there. I will go for a smoother and more polished look on the maple, while trying to bring out the illusion of depth with the shifting figured grain, but I want to leave the top with a bit more surface texture to give little more character to the grain lines of the belly.
The first step will be to lightly scrape and sand the maple to remove any last irregularities that might interfere with the final rubbing and polishing. The top will get only the scraper, as the scraper will leave a more interesting texture where the reed lines are cut a bit lower than the rest of the surface (it does this by slightly compressing the softer surrounding wood as it cuts through the stiffer reeds). Then, I wipe the instrument down with a damp cloth, to raise the grain before going over it again to smooth off the surface. This will also bring out any irregularities I might have missed. I do this twice to be sure that I won't have the problem of raising the grain during the next procedure. At this time I also go over the spruce with some very fine sandpaper to just barely level the surface while still leaving the reed lines undercut.
The next step is a light pre-staining of the wood. Most of the color in the finish will be up in the varnish layer, but I like to put just a little golden yellow stain in the wood itself. It means I can use less color in the upper layers, and it will also serve to emphasize the figure of the maple. I give it first a light wash with strong coffee to give it a light tan color. I want to be careful not to let the spruce soak up the stain unevenly as a result of way the grain orientation shifts in relation to the changing slopes of the arching, so I first wet the spruce and let it partially dry before applying the stain. This way, end grain will be already saturated and won't tend to absorb the stain disproportionately. After the coffee, I give it an additional wash of a yellow dye made from soaking madder root in alcohol. This especially seems to have a nice effect on the maple by putting a warm and lively glow deep down in the flames.

Now it is important to seal the wood so that the richly colored varnish won't further stain the wood. I make a mix of thickened linseed oil (raw oil that was slowly cooked in a pot over a propane torch until it had a thick honey like consistency) fine powdered mica, and a bit of turpentine to thin it. I rub this well into the wood with a brush, a piece of silk cloth, and with my fingers. The powdered mica (you can also use pumice or a variety if other fine mineral particles) packs into the pores and surface of the wood helping to seal it -- at the same time it gives a harder and more protective finish to the surface as well as providing a good ground for the subsequent layers of varnish. A coat of rosin oil finishes the sealing, but I give one more coat of rosin oil to the spruce as it is very absorbent of the first coat -- I want to see that the whole surface starts to take on a bit of a sheen indicating that it has stopped absorbing the sealer.
At this point, I like to hang it out in the sun to dry -- as with the varnish, the UV rays of the sun help to promote the polymerization of the oil -- the linking together of the molecules into a tough and durable film. Upstairs I have a cabinet equipped with UV lights, and this is great for times when the weather is bad (or the flies), but nothing beats good strong sunlight when it's available

A traditional oil varnish is made from a natural resin combined with a drying oil, such as linseed or walnut oil. Trees produce resin in response to an injury in order to seal and protect the wood from infection -- hence it is an ideal substance for us to use to seal and protect the wood of our violins. The addition of a drying oil gives it more toughness and durability -- to help keep it from becoming too hard, brittle and chippy. The dark varnish for the color coats on this fiddle is made from Colombian amber and linseed (flax) oil. This South American amber is a relatively young amber, dating back to extinct forests from between one and two million years ago.

To render this fossil resin soluble for making varnish, it must first be melted, or fused at high heat to break the molecular bonds that keep it locked up in an inert and insoluble state. I cook it outside (it gives off plenty of noxious smoke) in a stainless steel pot over a propane torch.... and I am always prepared for fire. The high heat will darken the resin considerably, but that is part of what I am looking for. I cook it until it is thoroughly melted, and then to darken it more, I continue to reduce it it until it looks like an oily tar in the bowl -- but spread out thin on the side of the pot, it will be evident that it is really a beautiful rich red-brown.
I let the resin cool down, then reheat it with the addition of an equal part of linseed oil, cooking it gently until they are dissolved together. After it cools a bit again, I will add turpentine to thin it and give it a good brushing consistency, and to make it easier to filter. I filter it while it is still hot and thin -- it will thicken up quite a bit as it cools. But I don't want to make it too thin -- I can always add a bit more turpentine when I'm ready to apply it to the fiddle.

Once the instrument is thoroughly sealed against further staining by the colored varnish, it becomes the canvas upon which I can paint to achieve the characteristic appearance that I am looking for. The dark amber varnish alone can give a very nice rich finish, but in order to have a little more choice and control of the color, and to achieve it in a thinner varnish film, artist's pigments may be added in very small quantities to alter its character. I give it just a touch of additional red. And to richen and darken it, to give it a bit of mystery and depth, a hint of blue is added. One or two extremely thin pigmented coats are applied, checking and altering the color, and perhaps adding a drop of oil or turpentine to the varnish to help with the brushing.

It is important at this stage not to try to achieve the final result all at once, but to keep in mind how the subsequent coats will change, darken, and enrich the color. It is important not to let it get too dark so that the clarity of the beautifully figured wood is obscured. The pigments should be used only to nudge the color very slightly. It is also important to look at the work in all different kinds of light. Vew it in direct and indirect sunlight, as well as under incandescent and fluorescent bulbs, as the color will vary dramatically under different lighting conditions. These initial pigmented coats are then followed by a couple of coats of just the dark varnish until I get a nice rich but mellow coloring to the instrument. Throughout this stage of the finishing, I like to shade the color on with highlights and shadows, not to "antique" the instrument, but to give a little more visual interest. The richly colored varnish is beautiful, but I also want to let the beauty of the wood grain show through unhindered.

The belly has been sealed against absorbing the colored varnish, but the grain texture left on the surface allows the varnish to collect along the reed lines, emphasizing this character of the wood. I make an effort to apply only a very thin but strongly colored coat of varnish to the top to maintain the surface texture but also so as not to dampen its acoustical response. After brushing the varnish on quickly, I rub it into the grain using my fingers and the side of my hand.

After the pigmented coats, I apply several coats of the unpigmented dark amber varnish to the areas where I want the finish to appear rich and dark. The highlighted areas at this point are still bare but for the sealer coat. I give it plenty of time to dry. Many problems with varnishing can be avoided by leaving adequate drying time between coats. Patience is a must. After I have achieved the depth of color I want, I give it just a very light rubbing with fine sandpaper just to knock off any little dust nibs that have accumulated, and then I am ready for the finishing top coats. The final coats will be a light and clear varnish that will serve to protect the color coats I have built up, and will give a little more body to the thin finish so that I can give it a final smoothing and rubdown without breaking through the underlying colored layer.
Here I will use a varnish made from New Zealand Kauri resin cooked in linseed oil. This is a bit softer than the amber resin, and does not require the same high temperature to melt it. It will dissolve into the hot linseed oil without the preliminary fusing that was necessary to melt the amber, and so it will make a much lighter colored varnish for my top coat. I will use a higher proportion of oil in this varnish, observing the painter's rule of "fat over lean".

While the varnish is drying, it's time to think about making the fittings for this violin. For the trial run, it was just set up with an old set of pegs and tailpiece, but a nice instrument should be finished off with with a personal set of fittings to suit it. In this case, I will make a matched set (pegs, chinrest, tailpiece) of Brazilian rosewood.

The peg blanks are selected from some good straight grained rosewood. Temporary faces are glued onto the blanks to make for easier turning with less chatter on the lathe.

The pegs are first turned, then the temporary fillers are removed and the faces shaped for a comfortable feel and grip for the thumb.

Here's a picture of the Dremel lathe. For scale, that's a 12 inch ruler in front of it.
It would be adequate for end pins and bridge pins, but a real machinist's lathe might be better, where you could be a little more precise in getting the sizes and tapers right by using the guides rather than going at it freehand. In the case of fiddle pegs, the shafts will be finished off by turning them in the peg shaver, which is like a big pencil sharpener, so I am not relying on the lathe for the precise finishing of the tapered shafts.

The tailpiece is made from the same Brazilian rosewood as the pegs, but I'll use a piece with a bit more figure in it for visual interest.

I will personalize it a bit with a small carving of a couple of maple leaves.

The finished tailpiece.

The chinrest is carved from the same wood as the tailpiece.

After a light buffing with wax, the fittings are finished and ready for the violin. The pips on the ends of he pegs and the fret at the leading edge of the tailpiece are made from a piece of osage orange that I found in my scrap pile.

Several coats of clear varnish have been applied to the violin, and ample time is allowed for drying. It is now rubbed down with fine pumice and olive oil to smooth over any brush marks and dust nibs, and to knock down the high gloss of the raw varnish to a softer glow. The top is just rubbed lightly with the pumice and oil using a soft toothbrush to leave as much of the surface texture as I can.

And now comes the moment that all this has been leading up to. The new pegs are fitted and the saddle glued in place, tailpiece and chinrest, a few minor adjustments, and a set of strings. The bow is drawn.

The tone is bright and crisp (thanks no doubt in large part to the light stiff spruce of the belly) yet full, rich and powerful. It has a quick easy response, singing high notes and gutsy lower end.

But like a newborn, it will be a little shaky on its feet until everything settles in to its new equilibrium. From hereon, it should just get better. It will mature, mellow, and open up as the varnish cures, the wood ages, and the structure adapts to the new forces and stresses that it is subject to.

But it's a pleasure even now only a few hours old. Strong, mellow, biting, and sweet like a sip of good single malt whiskey, with which I think I will celebrate.

You can reach me through my website www.fiddletree.com or look me up if you are ever in Cape Breton.