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Scan 312
Old Violins And Their Makers, 1883
6 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 298. See the scan on archive.org.
1above proportions are for essence coloured by sandal wood, but, if gamboge or dragon's blood has been employed, 4 1/2 dr. of mastic and 2 1/4 dr. of dammar will suffice, the linseed oil remaining the same. When laying on the varnish, it could be liquefied by placing its receptacle in a sand bath and heating it with warm cinders, or by putting it in the sun, provided the varnish be not uncovered.
3Instead of dissolving more resins it is preferable to lay on thin coats, even if an extra one be found necessary. Three or four coats should varnish a violin very well. It is absolutely necessary to let each be completely dry before applying another. Eight or ten days between each would entail less loss of time than if, by too great haste, the operator were to lose all the labour of applying any one of them, and be obliged to do it over again. If the varnish is too strong in colour, it might happen that two coats would show enough in that respect, and yet not be sufficiently solid. In such a case the instrument might be finished with a single coat of white varnish, for which I give the recipe.
5The varnish already referred to should be made with the coloured essence cold, or by means of the water bath. It would be very dangerous to attempt to solve the resins in the essence over a fire, for, besides the risk of carbonising the colour to some extent, and therefore weakening it, there would remain very great danger to the operator if the essence, in boiling, were to overflow and take fire, which, in unskilful hands, would be a very probable event. The burns he might receive would be of an exceedingly grievous kind, and,
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