Violin Forum/Message Board

[catbrain]

I mostly finished my current top plate. I scraped it instead of sanding it and it looked great. I filled it (ground) stained it and then later-- gave it two coats of oil varnish. For some reason the finish of the varnish seems "rough" as though it somehow raised the grain.--- sort of-----

I put the first coat on about 3 months ago and the 2-nd one about 2 weeks ago. should I try wiping it off with turpentine ? Will it wipe off ??????

If I dont wipe it off--- how can I get rid of that roughness without messing the nice scraped look I like ----- ?????????????

Tim

[MikeCooper]

I didn't have that problem on my last build thankfully but I have been doing some color samples on a rib blank and have the same issue. I scraped smooth but then the varnish seems to have raised the grain.

I guess it would be a good idea after scraping to rub the wood with a damp cloth to raise the grain and then scrape lightly, maybe do that a few times before applying varnish.

Now that it's done, I don't know what the fix is unless you strip it and start over. Or maybe scrape or lightly sand to get it smooth and then another coat of varnish?

[catbrain]

Hi Mike----

I am afraid of doing any further scraping. I think that was EXACTLY how my 2-nd instrument top got slightly too thin. So I dont want to scrape any more.
I may try wiping with some turp and a cotton lint free rag. Just see if any comes up.
Perhaps when I scraped -- I may have scraped off enough to scrape THROUGH the sealing coat. That might explain why the grain looks funky.

So maybe the perscription is to do all the scraping -- then another coat of either dilute glue-water or shellack. But then that may raise the grain --- again. Seems like we need the sealer to go deeper........ (????)

Tim

[catbrain]

it doesnt look super bad-- but it does not have the super clean ribbed look it had before varnish.....

[Michael Darnton]

If you're looking for a totally smooth look, sandpaper is the only way. If you want a nice classical texture, a scraper will do it, but before you do anything with color you need to resolve the problems of zits and weirdness with light sanding or in some cases picking off the problems individually with a knife tip. You can get a lot of mileage also by waiting until the varnish is sticky and burnishing it lightly with your fingertip to smooth out the worst parts.

Since you haven't provided photos of the offending surface it's impossible to say exactly what you should have done, though.
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