Actually I had wanted to start varnishing earlier, but then my eyes fell on this and that detail that still needed to be improved or on imperfections that should be mended… So some time has gone into the touch-up. Now I have decided that it is time to finish the cello project.
I first applied concentrated green tea and exposed the wood to UV-light which gave the wood a darker yellow appearance and pronounced the years. Afterwards I put on a cellulose-based mineral filler to close pores and mitigate flaws. Whether that was a necessary step I can’t say.
I then applied two coats of a casein sealer. (Casein dissolved in lime water and sal ammoniac/ammonia).
These two working steps do not seem to go together, because the casein layer does not render the mineral filler transparent. I would omit one of the two steps in a future project.
The casein leaves a transparent non-water soluble matte film and protects the wood from being deeply penetrated by the varnish.
This is followed by two coats of a colorless ground or primer (Zinc Rosinate) from violinvarnishitaly.com
The following coats are also based on Zinc Rosinate and contain colorants. I opted for vegetable dyes.
Yellow: Reseda Luteola (flavonoide, a very lightfast yellow dye) as a lake, from shop.pflanzenfaerber.eu
Red: Dragon’s blood resin and Madder. I ended up not using my madder lake because it turned out too brown.
Brown: Brown rosinate with iron oxides from varnishitaly.com .
Amber varnish is the final coat – also from Violin Varnish Italy.
I am more than pleased with the products from Violin Varnish Italy. They are easy to apply, they are based on traditional recipes and consist of natural ingredients. Last but not least – they look phantastic.
