Flipping heck! that was amazing to watch. Great job!!!

I was just looking up how to sanitize a violin if I were to practice with a cold and came across a warning against hand sanitizer! I appreciate the visual

@gorak9000

6 ай бұрын

You don't need to sanitize a violin when you're sick. You have an immune system, once you build up enough antibodies to fight and get over the cold, you'll have more than enough immunity to fight whatever you might pick back up off the violin too. People's obsession with sanitizing everything is insane. People have survived 1000's of years without hand sanitizer - it's just another stupid product that you've been bamboozled into thinking you need to buy.

Olaf, I did furniture restoration including graining and what you do is actual looks like the same thing the same thing. The main thing is keep the touchup confined to the least area. Sometimes I had to use fine brushes to duplicate the pattern and hopefully the final cover varnishes made it all blend. I know I'm preaching to the choir, so to speak, but watching you brought back memories:) Cheers, Frederick "Rik" Spector

Completely irrelevant, but I always enjoy seeing what t-shirt you are wearing. And if the video covers multiple days, bonus! :) Super job covering that spot. It's beautiful.

Great work Olaf. If you didn't see it when it came in, you would not know it had been damaged. Also worth pointing out to people that most old furniture and instrument varnishes are shellac based which means entirely soluble in alcohol. Must keep that sort of stuff well away! He got a better violin back than he came in with too.

I have an old German copy violin that’s been in my family for generations. At some point someone tried to touch up the violin and put on a thick layer of a sticky varnish. Now the varnish is cracked and looks really dirty in a couple places. I wanted to get the varnish fixed up so it looks cleaner, but no one is willing. I’ve come to accept that and appreciate all the quirks of this violin because of sentimental value but someday maybe. I just started my first violin lessons last week. I’m really looking forward to learning on the same violin that my grandpa and great grand uncle played.

I really don't mind patches of wear, scratches, different areas of varnish on my violins, it shows they have been loved and played, many hands have extracted beautiful music from them. If they are pristine it probably means they don't sound pleasing to the ear, so, after a tune or 2, the musician would put the fiddle down, then pick up his favourite instrument and sigh with relief as beautiful sonorous music fills the air! I have a beat up German Trade Fiddle which sounds marvellous to me, so that's the one I pick up out of preference. The others are possibly more beautiful, but not quite as pleasing in some ways, especially when I play them, the GTF ticks all the boxes, volume, subtlety, delicacy and an easy ability to fill a room with sound.

Very nice repair. I'm impressed with the care that violins receive. Wear on guitars indicate it's been regularly played and loved 😅 Belt buckle rash for example is common on instruments that are played daily. Expectations are different in the orchestra. The instruments have to be immaculate. It goes with the suits.

@rjlchristie

6 ай бұрын

Guitars are typically finished in urethanes, lacquers and modern catalyst activated synthetic concoctions. Only french polish (shellac based typically seen on luthier-built concert classical guitars) and some lacquers offer easy repair. Generally, unless you have deep pockets, it's either live with and learn to love the damage or it is refinish the whole thing. Most go with the first option, in fact it has been turned into a virtue, as you describe.

@vibratingstring

6 ай бұрын

@@rjlchristieI have a late 19th century German fiddle that was antiqued--when it was new in say 1885. Think Fender "relic" but a violin. Now it is antiqued^2

Workshops are worshops all over the world! 🥰

You can get daylight color temperature light bulbs for your studio. They are great!

colour match by starting off light then going darker, polish off the edges of pool- of paint/varnish and varnish when done. Simple of course ... thank you, master

as time goes on this inexpensive violin will grow in value. I think a cover up job is a cover up job regardless of the value. It may be somebody's cheap violin but it is your face Olaf. How good are you is measured by your work. You spending more time on it than you thought just shows your standards.

I did work like this on a student cello in a rental pool. I did a good enough job that looked just okay, and I ended up spending 3 weeks here and there. I didn’t charge for time: it was a labor of love for that little cello. Your work looks fantastic! Amazing work with it!

My viola has a really beautiful varnish and honestly if it got damaged I would be devastated. I find this video very interesting :D

About a year ago I purchased a violin that got stuck in a storm during shipping. The instrument got wet so watermarks appeared below the varnish. I soaked a paper towel in hand sanitizer and hovered it over the watermarks. That opened the pores and the water marks went away. I was very careful to not allow the paper towel to touch the instrument. So there you go. Hand sanitizer can also be used to correct issues with the varnish. 😂

@mercoid

6 ай бұрын

I would have anticipated that the alcohol fumes would soften the varnish and cause it to cake up. Then after drying the result would be a much less than perfect finish. Apparently that didn’t happen in your case? Or did it, and you had to burnish it down?

I admire the way the blob landed in the shape of a musical note.

@donmacquarrie9161

5 ай бұрын

sounds like this! lol kzread.info/dash/bejne/qJqoytyOY7maqtI.html

I too love coffee. Have you ever spilled coffee on a violin. Every time you take a sip while an instrument is near I hold my breath. I like your cup; Adel sure was beautiful woman.

Olaf, looks fantastic. You have to already know there was a blemish there, then look very hard to find it. 😁✌🖖

A similar incident I know of. My niece was using a violin with a dyed finger board and the teacher gave her hand sanitizer and of course the dye came off and stained her fingers black.

Very nice touch up - I was wondering about the wear under the bridge and why that wasn't touched up too? Is it supposed to be a little worn like that for wood on wood contact?

Gave it character

Fascinating, Olaf.

New fear unlocked 😅

Fabulous video, Olaf!

It is wonderful to see your work.

I love your videos!

Nice job! And nice sounding instrument!

Bravo Olaf!!! Amazing video. Thanks!

Would you please explain why you plane the fingerboard, doesn't that make it thinner and possibly less robust. About how long is a fingerboard expected to last?

a lovely gift of your skill and caring

Did you put shellac or oil varnish?

@AskOlaftheViolinmaker

6 ай бұрын

The recipe I use is actually a combination

Matching finish is not easy. I wonder if art conservator resin paint would work with a thin varnish protection layer laid down first. It could match the finish and then a final varnish layer added on top. Resin paints are completely reversable though i dont know what the implications are for the top plate. I know conservators maintain paintings on wood but this quite different. I know this is outside traditional methods. Just a thought experiment

Wow!

And that is the reason you use oil varnish. Once it is cured it will not easily be dissolved (spirit varnish is essentially shellac, resins and pigments dissolved in alcohol. The alcohol dries off and leaves a thin layer of shellac an resins. Oil varnish is a mixture of linseed oil, turpentine oil and resins cooked to partially polymerize the oil. The oil polymerizes with oxygen to a thin layer of some natural polymer which is than only disolvable by things breaking up these chains such as paint strippers).

Hi Olef from Sudney. Sounding good.

Hello sir, i dont know a lot about violins but im playing for 10 years and i had this violin for 2 years. And just today i looked inside it it says “Antonius Stradivarius Cremonensis Faciebat Anno” and year is 1714. Also the violin is 3/4 not full. and i dont know what to do or how to check if its real? couls u help me?

How do keep your brushes and paints useable between jobs? If you cleaned up everything each time you'd run out of paint very fast. I have that sort of issue with the things I fix.

How many hours to make it invisible ?

have you ever made a hardingfele?

Yes. Retouching was the hardest part. I'm still struggling with it 😔

Oil varnishes rule, they're more time consuming to apply and more difficult to repair but more resilient against physical and chemical damage. Remember, they were good enough for the Cremona masters. The more modern spirit (and usually shellac) based varnishes are faster and easier to work with but a typical vulnerability is described in the video.

I like the very end!😂

Great seeing the stages you work through. I wonder if you used spirit or oil varnish for your touch up. Thanks again for he informative video.

@rjlchristie

6 ай бұрын

Spirit, for sure. Oil varnishes take longer than an a hour or two to dry and longer than overnight before you should even considering taking to them with abrasives.

@NaydzArt

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for the reply but the question wasn’t directed to you.

@rjlchristie

6 ай бұрын

@@NaydzArt It's a public forum, it's directed at anyone who reads it. However you may hope for an answer from a specific person should you address the question specifically. Thanks for your passive aggression.

can you describe your french polish recipe? i've been working with blonde shellac, sandarac and gum mastic in ethanol using white mineral oil on the rag to keep it from sticking, but always curious as to what other folks mean when they say "french polish"

No one wants a blob of missing varnish but it's a little ironic to me that we will pay thousands of dollars extra to have our instruments artificially aged. I'm thinking in the guitar world. And it was a tougher job for you do to the antiquing in the original finish. Nice job, my feeling as long as the repair doesn't stand out it's probably good enough. Your work is excellent.

Curious if someone has a Violin that has like for example a very yellow tone to it and they’d much rather have more of an orange or reddish amber tone, they ever get their violin revarnish? Or could they just build onto the existing varnish with a stain?

Will you ever make a how to make a violin series?

@AskOlaftheViolinmaker

6 ай бұрын

Not a how to, but I'll do one following the making of one of my violins... I was hoping to do one this year, but things just got way too busy... I will get there though

I've dropped sooo much hot solder on my guitars lol. Thankfully nothing has ever happened to them since it cools as it falls.

@zapa1pnt

6 ай бұрын

Ya gotta cover. 😁✌🖖

👍👍

It's like that scene in There's Something about Mary when he shoots his blammo and can't find it...

Unrelated, but that skeleton cello case in the background is really cool...

@AskOlaftheViolinmaker

6 ай бұрын

I know! Isn't it amazing 😍

Spray in a napkin first and only use on fingerboard and strings. Don’t use very often but maybe when changing strings.

0:32 just curious what is that thing the violin has between the D & A strings?

@JasonTabile

6 ай бұрын

It's a mute. Slide it up near the bridge to mute the sound of your violin. Slide it down near the tailpiece to unmute your violin.

@Emaaa3010

6 ай бұрын

@@JasonTabile thanks! I knew about the other mute that clips onto the bridge, never seen this one!

Can i use a French Polish over my oil varnish (btw just Askes, i'll never doing it myself)

@AskOlaftheViolinmaker

6 ай бұрын

I use the French polishing method on oil varnish. Oil varnish is just an emulsion between resin and oil, but a lot of the oil evaporates away leaving the resin which is soluble in alcohol. The French polishing method dissolves a tiny bit of the top layer of varnish and adds a tiny bit of a shellac based varnish to the top layer.

As a woodworker that loves using shellac based French Polish finishes on my projects I just knew this was caused by Alcohol in some form or another.

is it Windsor Newton oil colors?

@AskOlaftheViolinmaker

6 ай бұрын

It's Windsor & Newton artists dry pigments...

I'm intrigued by you saying "if it was a more expensive violin I could afford to put more time into it." Do you charge based on the value of the instrument? If you are charging time + materials, I don't see how a more valuable instrument would allow you to put more time into it. Is it a matter that you are _willing_ to put more time into a valuable instrument, but don't want to spend time on a lesser one, or is it more that someone who can afford a valuable instrument can afford more repairs/bigger repair bills?

@molekyyli

5 ай бұрын

I would guess that first of all, agreement about the work has to be done with the customer - how much is the customer willing to pay? The chances are, the more valuable instrument it is, the more the customer is willing to pay, and that correlates with how much time Olaf can spend repairing. I can imagine Olaf wouldn’t mind to spend way more time on it but he can’t cos he can’t afford to do it for free.

I now realize that when you say "varnish" you are referring to shellac.

Here I was watching this just enjoying it and seeing you work, and then suddenly, at 15:23 OMG THAT CELLO CASE IS FANTASTIC!!!! 🤣 I'm curious -- has anyone ever asked you to work on a viola d'amore or a hardingfele?

That is a spirit varnish that got dissolved, isn't it?

@zapa1pnt

6 ай бұрын

Yes. Look up "spirit varnish". 😁✌🖖

@rossthefiddler5890

6 ай бұрын

@@zapa1pnt I know what spirit varnish is & how susceptible it is to solvents etc. I just want to know if this this was spirit varnish on this violin.

@zapa1pnt

6 ай бұрын

@@rossthefiddler5890 Yes, it was. That is why the alcohol based hand sanitizer melted it off.

@rossthefiddler5890

6 ай бұрын

@@zapa1pnt Yes, and don't let hide glue dry & harden on a rosinate spirit varnish either as it will rip it off. I just wanted to confirm with Olaf that it was actually a 'spirit' varnish & not an oil vanish, but then a propolis varnish would be sensitive too.

The maker of my carbon fiber cello recommends cleaning with Windex or any other window cleaner and the maker of my carbon fiber bow cleaning with pure alcohol.😅

This also means…, keep your instrument away from alcoholic cocktails 🍸

Not all violin varnishes are spirit based... Almost all of mine are oil based varnished.

@rjlchristie

6 ай бұрын

Best choice.

🩷

Never use hand sanitizer. Soap and water are fine, or just water.

@mercoid

6 ай бұрын

Generally I would agree. But hand sanitizer does have its place. For instance I was at an ice cream store yesterday after doing some yard work at home. I used hand sanitizer they had near the cash register before they handed me my ice cream. It was convenient.

@BigHenFor

6 ай бұрын

Not just water. That leaves the body fats in place to which bacteria, viruses, and fungi can cling to. Wash with soap and water, or use hand sanitiser wipes, rather than gels. Human body fat - sebum - can only be removed with mechanical action and a solvent. Water alone is a poor solvent for sebum, or any fat. (That is why your undies, or clothes that rub on skin can't be cleaned in just water, with or without skid marks. And sweat contains body salts and excess sugar too. Yummy!) Your skin is part of your body's waste disposal system. And the dead skin cells? Well, you can guess.

So are we to ignore that you already were doing varnish work, but didn't touch up where the bridge feet touch? You do you, I guess.

Better don't use hand sanitizer at all 😉. String cleaner is dangerous too, I spoiled a drop on my violin.

You shouldn't be using gel hand sanitizer before playing the violin!

@gorak9000

6 ай бұрын

You shouldn't be using it ever. It dries out your skin and is overall more bad for you than any benefit it provides. But that's not what the company that sells it to you wants you to think

If you dont know where to look for the ooopsy....likely a stranger would not see it.......?

u are the master of violin fixing.... do u need a apprentice. lol

I think he should have just left it. It all just add to character.

Wow! You actually used real hand sanitizer. That's what I call 'commitment to the bit.' I salute you.

@mercoid

6 ай бұрын

Why would you accuse the man of damaging the finish himself and concocting the story?

@QuestionMan

6 ай бұрын

@@mercoid I don't follow. Did you accidentally reply to the wrong comment? Don't worry. It's an easy mistake to make.

@mercoid

6 ай бұрын

@@QuestionMan….No. Your comment implies, actually more than implies, that Olaf intentionally caused damage to a violin and concocted a story for the sole purpose of making this video. I now realize that what you wanted to communicate was that you were congratulating him on showing us a bottle of hand sanitizer as a prop. But that is a far cry from how you worded your original comment. Very poor communication skills on your part. And woeful use of the English language.

That's what hygiene hysteria leads to. The unnatural fear of germs (germophobia), that C instilled in so many people now takes its toll!

@J.C...

6 ай бұрын

🙄

@michaelfrank2266

6 ай бұрын

Cats and dogs living together. Will it never end? lul

@BigHenFor

6 ай бұрын

Not really. We invented soap and have always used it. Try it.

@wakingtheworld

6 ай бұрын

Yeah paper was contaminated; money was contaminated, etc. How did folk sanitise their sheet music? I never use the stuff. All that stickiness; it dries out and damages your skin with prolonged use and even contains carcinogens... I guess few would opt for an organic version... Soap 'n' warm water does just fine...

@gorak9000

6 ай бұрын

Yeah, people's obsession with hand sanitizer is stupid - along with all these sanitizing wipes and garbage as well. Just goes to show you how effective marketing is. Those people are so slick they could sell ice to Eskimos. You have an immune system - it deals with things you come into contact with. People survived thousands of years without hand sanitizer, and now suddenly everyone can't live without it smeared on their hands 50 times a day! Insanity.