Violin Forum/Message Board

Michael N · Junior Member Joined: 23 Sep 2009 Posts: 9

I've been trying a few tests to try and achieve some colour on my early plucked instruments (you'll have to forgive me for that).
I can get a fairly nice even stain on Spruce by wetting the wood and then applying the tea solution. I guess it's the equivalent of a day or so in a light box.
On Maple I've found that it kills some of the liveliness of the figure. For those using such stains, do you seal the wood before applying the stain?

Andres Sender · Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 8:54 pm Post subject:

Much depends on how thickly you apply it, and probably on the specific type of tea you use.

Since we're speaking of plucked strings, long ago Bob Lundberg told me about using chicory to stain maple. I haven't used it in ages so I can't comment on how it works compared to other things.

DonLeister · Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:39 pm Post subject:

My experience is that the more and stronger the sealer the less effect the stain will have.
On your stain sample did you put a varnish coat over it? Varnish, especially clear will bring back the depth and livelyness, unless the stain is a really strong one.

Michael N · Junior Member Joined: 23 Sep 2009 Posts: 9

Yes, I did put a clear coat over the initial stain. I may be expecting too much, I am doing direct comparisons with wood that has no stain but clear oil varnish. That seems to have more of a holographic effect. Fortunately It's not always that important to have strong/dark colours on such instruments. A subtle orange/brown would make a nice change though.
i do have some fairly strong coloured Pine resin varnish and W&N brown madder to do experiments with. Varnishing isn't new to me, colour is. It could be a long road.

Michael Darnton · Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2009 12:46 pm Post subject:

You have to be very careful of what you put on the bare wood. Many stains don't improve the looks of things, and then when you put varnish on don't turn out to have darkened the wood as much as you initially thought, either. Time seems to do the best job, chemical processes that don't involve adding a colorant to act on (like tannins) are slightly better, and added colors (coffee, tea, similar) rather then chemical reactions are the worst of all.