Violin Forum/Message Board

okawbow · Posted: Sun Sep 26, 2010 2:23 pm Post subject: sun tanning wood

I have neglected working on my latest violin for 3 months or so. The closed body sat on my workbench that recieves a few hours of sun each day. The top is Alaskan mountain Sitka spruce that I split from a large block of firewood in 2002, while camping in Alaska. The back and sides are from southern Illinois red maple that was lightning killed the same year.

I don't have a "before" picture; but the spruce was very white. I've never had the patience to try tanning the wood before, but I think I will from now on. The sun gives a nice base color and seems to accent the contrast in the wood.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20524843@N03/5026399111/

Chad48309 · Member Joined: 26 Sep 2010 Posts: 110 Location: Michigan

Tanning also seems to heighten the natural resonant frequency of the plates. David Langsather did a really interesting study on it here.
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Dave Chandler · Posted: Sun Sep 26, 2010 8:54 pm Post subject: Tanning wood

When finished with my arching and while working on graduating my plates, I keep my plates in my UV "tanning" booth (using 4 black lights from walmart), which does tan the wood, and does have an effect on the sound. A few days in there really makes a difference. Look for other posts on tanning and UV light booths. Not sure what would happen if it went months on end. Its not as fast as natural light, but you also don't have to worry about rain, and its sunny in there 24/7.
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Chad48309 · Member Joined: 26 Sep 2010 Posts: 110 Location: Michigan

Lemuel · Posted: Sun Sep 26, 2010 11:12 pm Post subject:

I am curious to know the reason (scientific) why tanning causes the natural resonant frequency to heighten?

Chad48309 · Member Joined: 26 Sep 2010 Posts: 110 Location: Michigan

Janito · Member Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Posts: 114 Location: USA

First eliminate the simple things, then move to the more exotic (quixotic?).

I see no reference to change in humidity as a simple explanation - ie serial weights during the UV tanning process.

Until this factor is eliminated, all else 'UV' is arm-waving...

Chad48309 · Member Joined: 26 Sep 2010 Posts: 110 Location: Michigan

okawbow · Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 4:30 pm Post subject: tanning

I was mostly interested in the effect the sun would have on the color of the wood, but the thought that it may affect the resonance of the wood is interesting. I know that wood exposed to sunlight seems more brittle on the surface. Maybe it's just dried out more?

Chad48309 · Member Joined: 26 Sep 2010 Posts: 110 Location: Michigan

Michael Darnton · Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 9:12 pm Post subject:

Dave Chandler · Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 9:58 pm Post subject: UV box

Michael, if this were true, then why do we dry wood to 7% before we begin work on it then set it loose in 40-75% humidity to live out its life?
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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

Chad48309 · Member Joined: 26 Sep 2010 Posts: 110 Location: Michigan

Michael Darnton · Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 8:25 am Post subject:

Dave, I don't get your drift. Humidity has an effect; if we don't control for all the possible effects of everything we do in an experiment, we don't have a valid experiment.

Just because one pronounces that the effect is due to UV, it doesn't make it so: there can be other things going on. If, as Chad implies, someone has done the same experiment and gotten the opposite results, it looks like both experiments are inconclusive, until someone does some real experiments (not just yet another casual one) to sort out the issue.

Further, I don't believe anyone has ever connected higher frequency in wood to a better violin. We live in a world where people think more is better, and unfortunately it's a concept that's oozed over into violin making, but it's a very simplistic approach to both life and violin making (as is the whole tuning thing, for that matter).

What happens in the real world afterward doesn't matter to the experiment: the instrument still has to stand up in real life, which is separate issue.

Personally, I'm not impressed by Langsather's work, which looks like duct tape science.

Would you let a guy whose only tool is a caliper fill your tires or wash your windshield with it, just because it's a might fancy and accurate tool, and expensive, too?
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Lemuel · Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 1:39 pm Post subject: