Stewmac Violin Kit

[Sami Ghouri]

Hails!

I just received the package. I'm assembling this violin for my sister who's INSANELY hyped about it. It does look fairly simple but i made one mistake that i'm worried about..... so here it goes:

In a moment of utter stupidity, i wanted to show my sister how quilted (or curly, however u call it) maple will have a 3d effect by rubbing some lemon oil on the INSIDE of the back piece (just in case it does permanently stain it it wouldn't really matter) ..... sounds normal.... did the demonstration needed...

The problem is, however, that apparently the oil managed to reach THE OTHER SIDE penetrating the whole back! now i have an oily rather big spot on the visible surface of the back! *facepalm*

what's worrying me is that this will prevent that area from accepting stain as the rest of the back... but reading that lemon oil is a petroleum derivative somewhere on the forum gives me hope that it'll evaporate by the time i'm done sanding and gluing.

Another option i was thinking of is just rubbing the whole thing with lemon oil (the insides of course) so it'll be homogeneous all over.

Any ideas? i really don't want her bummed as i've never seen her more excited about something before! =(

thanks!

Sami

[CrazyManAndy]

I'm afraid I can't help, but, for future reference, water or mineral spirits will achieve the same purpose and neither are permanent.

CMA

Edited August 13, 2008 by CrazyManAndy

[Sami Ghouri]

thanks! i guess i figured that out right after what i did! thing is i didn't have mineral spirits at the time (n didn't wanna raise the grain with water) and i thought lemon oil WOULD eventually evaporate coz i've used it before to check for scratches on a mahogany LP after sanding and it was fine afterwards. But it did dry on mahogany thoguh and didn't seem to penetrate that much!

[kpcrash]

Lemon oil is designed to penetrate wood and keep it from drying out - it will eventually evaporate, but there may be a little residue there. Nothing a little naptha (lighter fluid) can't take care of. If you wiped it down now, should be clean and gone by the time you're done gluing. If not - if it was a good heavy dose of oil, you might have to wait a week or so. (Worst case scenario)

[Sami Ghouri]

phew!!! thanks a lot man! i was pretty worried!!! i'll get the naphtha and mineral oils today anyway.... i know i need naphtha for many other projects....

[dugg]

I think kpcrash's advice is good. I'd add that you could 'seal' the oil in with shellac if you were worried about it preventing the varnish from sticking.

[Sami Ghouri]

thanks for the advice! the oil is almost gone now and i'm done shaping the neck. i'm guessing it'll be completely gone by the time i'm done with the basic shaping and stuff.....

varnish or poly? i know the traditional violins are finished with varnish but i'm staining it blue and will try to give the figured maple the best 3d effect i can. does varnish help? or should i just stick to my Minwax gloss polyu?

[kpcrash]

Sami - this is a tough one. I'm sure the responses you get here will vary in opinion, but I would look at it like this -

Poly - if your main concern is durability

Varnish - if your main concern is beauty

Tru-Oil - if you can get it.

[CrazyManAndy]

I'm no expert, but I do know that any violin worth its salt is finished in a "violin" varnish. I would recommend again using poly. I've never seen a violin, except for very low end junkers, finished with a heavy finish like poly.

My violin is finished with a varnish and it shows the figure quite nicely.

CMA

(Edit: This is the model of the violin that I have: http://www.giannaviolins.com/vl/gv/gv200.html. Mine actually has more figure than the one pictured.)

Edited August 17, 2008 by CrazyManAndy

[foil1more]

Go with varnish if you want it to sound good. That or French polish. Poly will dampen it way too much. Finish is extremely important on violins. Chemists and luthiers have been trying to make varnishes as hard and thin as possible for hundreds of years. The idea is to let the wood resonate as mush as possible. Besides, if you by a good case and be careful, you shouldn't need the protection of poly.