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Making Matters: applying the ground coat to a violin

2024-06-19T09:09:00

Picture5 JR

Making and applying the ground coat is a crucial stage of the varnishing process. James Ropp reveals his own method for a preparation containing no oil

The methods described in this article are the methods I use based on extensive research and experimentation. First, let’s discuss the purpose of the ground on the tonewood of an oil-varnished stringed instrument. Since I primarily make violins, I will use the violin as the example for this article…

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