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Scan 296
Old Violins And Their Makers, 1883
4 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 282. See the scan on archive.org.
1the alcohol eliminated, as before described. A varnish was then made with the coloured essence, laid on wood sized as before, and exposed to the rays of the sun for more than a month, at the end of which time the colour retained all its brilliancy. It is customary in varnish-making to recommend the employment only of those essential oils which have been recently rectified, in order to obtain a very dry and white varnish, but the first of these objects is of no great importance in regard to fiddle varnish, for, if it is a little longer in drying, it will be the more elastic, and the second one is of no value at all in the matter of a coloured varnish. It is even possible to procure in commerce this oxidised essence, and it is not at all improbable that the old makers left that which they used uncorked, and that it so acquired the property of mixing with alcohol.
3The following are the proportions to be adopted in making a coloured essence which will give a red orange. Take 7 oz. (avoirdupois) of red sandal wood and bruise it down into a fine powder. Put one-half of this quantity into 7 gills of alcohol in a bottle of such capacity that it will then only be, at most, two-thirds full. This will allow the alcoholic vapours to circulate freely, and permit of it being shaken up from time to time, so as to present fresh surfaces to the action of the alcohol. Let this saturation go on for eight or ten days, and then filter through linen into another bottle by means of a glass funnel. It must be done very promptly in order to prevent the alcohol from evaporating and absorbing moisture, of which it is very greedy. Otherwise the spirit will be weakened, and will no longer mix with the essential oil. Squeeze out
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