Salve Håkedal, violin maker
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Salve Håkedal, violin maker |
Les
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Violin varnishNext to the music that can be made with a fiddle, for many people the most fascinating thing is the varnish: "Is it the varnish that makes the Stradivaris ...".Maybe it is, but anyway: In to hundred years violinmakers has tried to recreate the varnish that was used in Italy in Stradivaris time, also because it is beautiful. Most makers agree that it was based on linseed oil:
Linseed oil, from flax, has been used on wood in unmemorable times. But to build a varnish layer it has to be mixed with a more solid substance. In Stradivari's time they had to choose from a few natural resins. One of those, that I use, is mastic.
Mastic is a soft resin from the mastic tree, growing around the Mediterranean. Transparent colour is added to violin varnish. Chemical analysis has revealed madder red in the Old Italian Varnish. The madder plant is one of the worlds oldest sources of red colour.
With turpentine and a little more, this makes up the varnish that I have used in ten years, with good results.
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Flax flover
Mastic and twig
Madder. The root
contains red color.
