Books › The Violin: A concise exposition of the general principles of construction.., 1871 › scan 169
Scan 169
The Violin: A concise exposition of the general principles of construction.., 1871
10 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1therewith. From the few and hurried experiments made as yet, arising from want of time and opportunity, the author for the present declines entering further into details respecting this varnish, but the subject is one highly worthy of investigation.
3The Cremona makers no doubt had been led to adopt oil in their varnish, from the fact that such would tend to give the dissolved gums a certain amount of elasticity, which never could be obtained by the employment of alcohol as a solvent. The spirit varnishes dry quickly, but their chief disadvantages are their want of elasticity, and aptitude to crack and peel off, whereas in a good oil-varnish, the former defect is greatly ameliorated, whilst the latter is almost entirely obviated.
5Oil-varnishes are also the most durable and lustrous, and yield better to the operation of polishing than spirit-varnishes.
7The following receipts for varnishes have been more or less used by violinmakers. No. 2 was kindly given the author by one of our most eminent Scottish makers, who obtained it from the well-known Hardies of Edinburgh many years ago. The following short description of the chief substances used in the composition of the varnishes may not be out of place here:—
9Amber is a fossilized vegetable gum or resin of the extinct coniferæ tribe, forests of which were abundant at an early epoch over Northern Europe. Anciently a fabulous origin was attributed to it, as from its having been found on the sea shore after a tempest, it was believed to have been the solidified tears of the sea
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