Violin Forum/Message Board

ollieken · Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 5:54 am Post subject: Stripping violin

I want to remove the varnish that i put on a fiddle that i made what do I use to do the job can you use paint stripper ? Will I have to reseal iit
again .Ken

Geemac · Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 9:22 am Post subject: Re: Stripping violin

I have used paint stripper on violins and had no problems with it.
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ollieken · Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 8:23 pm Post subject: Saffron

Geemac
I Got saffron for nine dollars you get very little in a enevlop
Cumin for Four dollars you get 97G package How is the Saffron mixed like a paste as well & rub it on ? Ken

Michael Darnton · Posted: Sat Aug 08, 2009 9:31 pm Post subject:

Unstable, just like the cumin. Neither color can be counted on to last more than a couple of years--or overnight, if you dry with UV light.

ollieken · Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 8:10 pm Post subject: Saffron &cumin

Michael
Thank you for the reply Guess I better leave it for cooking . Ken

Geemac · Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2009 8:36 pm Post subject:

Don't use safron. It's far too expensive.

I think we're in the wrong thread for this answer, but . . Mix the cumin with water to make a wet slury. Dab a cloth into the slury and wipe it evenly on to the TEST WOOD you are going try it on first. Let it dry over night and then put coats of orange shellac over the cumin until the desired color is achieved. After that has dried, apply a very thin coat of varnish.

All kinds of people tell me this won't work, but it seems to work okay for me. I got the idea reading about violins that were made back in the golden age of violins. I have one violin that is three years old and there is no change in it yet.

Again, if there is any doubt in your heart, use a piece of TEST WOOD - some scrap spruce maybe. After all that is set, put it in the direct sunlight or a UV chamber and see is anything happens.
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ollieken · Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:51 am Post subject: Cumin

Geemac
I am giong to try the cumin on test wood & see . I know michale has not given me bad advice in the past & will think I told you, so why do you ask (sorry michael ) Thank you both for the reply

MANFIO · Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:06 pm Post subject:

Michael, are you talking about cumin, is it the spice like this one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumin

what colour it gives? Thanks!
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Dave Chandler · Posted: Thu Aug 13, 2009 7:55 am Post subject: stripping

I've used a commercial stripper from the hardware store, works very well. Try to keep it from running into the "f" holes though. I still end up scraping different areas, so if you do scrape you will need to reseal those areas. Good luck.
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Dave in the Blue Ridge
Southern Violin Association

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm" Winston Churchill

"I took the road less travelled, and now I don't know where I am." Marco Polo

Thomas Southern · Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 7:31 am Post subject:

I've used denatured alcohol it wiped the varnish right off. I would think grain alcohol like "Everclear" would work also but I have not tried that yet.

Dave Chandler · Posted: Sat Aug 15, 2009 2:08 pm Post subject: Stripping

Yes, alcohol should (and I've done that) strip a spirit varnished violin very nicely. Have not tried it with an oil-varnish though, would expect it to be difficult.

On a similar topic -- peg drops!!! That stuff will strip a spirit varnished violin - so use it VERY carefully. I use peg soap now, just to be on the safe side.
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Dave in the Blue Ridge
Southern Violin Association

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm" Winston Churchill

"I took the road less travelled, and now I don't know where I am." Marco Polo

ollieken · Posted: Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:01 pm Post subject: striping violin

Some good advice on stripping I will let you know how i make out when i get around to doing it Thank you for the reply`s ken

Dave Chandler · Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 3:01 pm Post subject: Stripping

Buy both -- everclear, and denatured alcohol.

Use the denatured to stip a spirit varnish (I brush it on liberally while holding it over a trash can and let it run off, try not to let it run into the "f" holes.

Then mix the everclear with orange juice on a one-to-one basis and apply liberally just behind the tongue.

You can almost immediately begin to refinish the violin, as the denatured alcohol should be all evaporated within a few minutes -- and resuming you didn't apply to much of the everclear/orange juice mixture.
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Dave in the Blue Ridge
Southern Violin Association

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm" Winston Churchill

"I took the road less travelled, and now I don't know where I am." Marco Polo