• Hi all and welcome to TheWoodHaven2 brought into the 21st Century, kicking and screaming! We all have Alasdair to thank for the vast bulk of the heavy lifting to get us here, no more so than me because he's taken away a huge burden of responsibility from my shoulders and brought us to this new shiny home, with all your previous content (hopefully) still intact! Please peruse and feed back. There is still plenty to do, like changing the colour scheme, adding the banner graphic, tweaking the odd setting here and there so I have added a new thread in the 'Technical Issues, Bugs and Feature Requests' forum for you to add any issues you find, any missing settings or just anything you'd like to see added/removed from the feature set that Xenforo offers. We will get to everything over the coming weeks so please be patient, but add anything at all to the thread I mention above and we promise to get to them over the next few days/weeks/months. In the meantime, please enjoy!

Seven Heirlooms - Polished to a high gloss!

AndyP said:
TBH Malc it never occurred to me to use micromesh wet.. Wet n’ dry paper is for metal only in my world.
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When I first acquired it a few years ago, all its blurb recommended wet on lacquer. And I'd always used w'n'd with cellulose paint on car and bike.

I know now then. :)
 
Dr.Al said:
You've got way more patience than I have Malc. They look lovely.
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Thanks, Al.

I find sanding an rubbing back therapeutic. I record old man rock shows from BBC Radio 2, play them back on BBC Sounds and do the rubbing/sanding in time with the mainly 4/4 rock beat. That way, i know every part and every component gets exactly the same amount of rubbing/sanding.
 
I've started on the bodies working my way through the grades.


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That Sycamore looks even more gorgeous in the flesh, or should that be in the wood.

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The Paduk has come out nice, too.

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So has the Spruce.
 
AndyP said:
I have visions of you doing a backwards and forwards CPR type sanding motion to Staying Alive.:)
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Today, I had one of Paul Gambaccini's programmes playing. It was quite laid back so I was somewhat less aggressive.
 
Monterey Pine (Pines Radiata) and Cedar.

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The Monterey pine came from a sawmill near Ilfracombe i North Devon, grown locally.

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Can you see the difference the rubbing makes?

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Three more to go, then I can start fitting the bridges.
 
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AndyP said:
When you come to tuning them will you be able to compare how the same note sounds on each instrument?
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I'm not sure, @Andy P. I've not got a studio set up, either acoustically or with equipment. I will try subjectively using my ears. I am more interested in hearing the difference between the Sycamore and Monterey Pine bodies, if there is any difference at all. Likewise, the difference between the Spruce soundboard and the Cedar.
 
That's seven necks and seven bodies rubbed back to 12,000 grit and then mechanically polished.

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Now it's time to think about fitting the bridges. That will involve removing that parcel tape that I've polished to a high gloss! 😁

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That doobrie is for clamping the bridge to the soundboard. It's been about three years since I last used it, so I've got to learn all over again.

I think the brass rod unscrews and goes through the jack hole and the re-screws into the vee block while inside the body. I'll photograph it when I get round to it.
 
Malc2098 said:
I'm not sure, @Andy P. I've not got a studio set up, either acoustically or with equipment. I will try subjectively using my ears. I am more interested in hearing the difference between the Sycamore and Monterey Pine bodies, if there is any difference at all. Likewise, the difference between the Spruce soundboard and the Cedar.
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As Manuel is famed for saying, "I know nothing" especially when it comes to luthier type stuff, but I did recollect reading ages ago that it's the varnish, especially on very high end violins that goes a long way to determining the eventual sound. I also remember back in the day when Nigel Kennedy was interviewed by Wogan, he asked to hold Kennedy's Strad (or similar) and was point blank refused, maybe 'cos he was going to get his grubby mitts all over the varnish?? - Rob
 
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Woodbloke said:
As Manuel is famed for saying, "I know nothing" especially when it comes to luthier type stuff, but I did recollect reading ages ago that it's the varnish, especially on very high end violins that goes a long way to determining the eventual sound. I also remember back in the day that when Nigel Kennedy was interviewed by Wogan, he asked to hold Kennedy's Strad and was point blank refused, maybe 'cos he was going to get his grubby mitts all over the varnish?? - Rob
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I don't really know, Rob, that's above my pay grade. But sound is all about vibrations and how the timber moves. I can imagine that a modern two pack finish could cure so hard that it might affect how much the wood can vibrate.

I know french Polish is a finish used on many classical and some western guitars. Although I learned a bit of doing that during my A Level, I choose to use nitrocellulose lacquer which has been traditional with some manufacturers. I believe it is flexible and moves with the wood vibrations. I realise it's nasty stuff and some people avoid it, but I've learned a bit about how to apply it and and how to get it to a high gloss. It takes time, and I wonder if modern two pack finishes are just time and finance saving for the manufacturer.
 
Malc2098 said:
I know french Polish is a finish used on many classical and some western guitars. Although I learned a bit of doing that during my A Level, I choose to use nitrocellulose lacquer which has been traditional with some manufacturers. I believe it is flexible and moves with the wood vibrations. I realise it's nasty stuff and some people avoid it, but I've learned a bit about how to apply it and and how to get it to a high gloss. It takes time, and I wonder if modern two pack finishes are just time and finance saving for the manufacturer.
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I recollect also that the varnish recipe used on top endy 18th century violins was a closely guarded secret, each maker having his own concoction and method of application. I guess that whatever is used, there has to be some degree (or a lot) of flexibility to allow the timber to vibrate - Rob
 
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