July 31, 2012 9:56 am
I started getting to know this instrument about a year and a half ago. One thing I noticed early on was that the neck was rather hefty. I noticed too, that it’s owner was rather small in stature. I suggested that she might consider having the neck reshaped. For a player that requires smooth, fast and accurate shifting into high positions, the shape and feel of the neck can have great consequences. The neck on this instrument measured wide, with quite a bit of excess wood in the neck heel area. We could reduce both measurements, while still working within standard violin parameters, and come up with something much more comfortable for my client to play. Here’s what the process looks like (you can click to enlarge):
Mostly I work with a knife and flat bottomed finger plane to carve away excess wood.
I use strong directional light to visually check lines and curves. Discrepancies are marked with a pencil. A template is useful as a reference and everything is carefully measured. Files and a scraper help refine the shape. The grain is raised with multiple applications of moisture followed by progressively finer sandpapers.
Next, the wood must be recolored to match. First I use a water stain derived from walnuts. It gives the newly exposed wood a nice brown color and accentuates the grain. I follow that with a vigorous burnishing with a polished boxwood stick. The neck is already very smooth and silky at this point.
An application of boiled linseed oil with a powdered burnt umber earth pigment further deepens the color and starts building a protective coating. After this is dry, I apply a light french polish of shellac. I’ve mixed a small vial of a custom colored retouch varnish and I use this, and my retouch palette to apply some serious varnish coats to the neck heel area and near the scroll. The rest of the neck gets a second french polish.
The difference is noticeable as soon as the player picks up the instrument. With the neck shaped properly, the entire fingerboard should feel more accessible – especially important for players with smaller hands!
Thanks to Debrah Devine, performer and teacher in Oneonta, NY, for participating in this episode of Restorersmind!
Posted by Stacey
Categories: Focus on Violin Restoration, Tools and the Trade
Tags: classical music, violin repair, violin restoration
Mobile Site | Full Site
Get a free blog at WordPress.com Theme: WordPress Mobile Edition by Alex King.
This is a fun series to watch the progress. Nice job. I’m impressed with your knife work. I quite often stick more cautiously to fine rasps and files to avoid the dreaded flame popping out right at the fingerboard edge or some gawdawful thing.
David
By David Wiebe on July 31, 2012 at 11:54 am
Hi David – yes, “reading” the wood is part of the challenge. I’m very willing to pick up a rasp or file if it seems safer. If I can, though, I prefer to use a knife. Btw, thanks for visiting!
By Stacey on July 31, 2012 at 12:26 pm