Barbarossa Guitars - Violin Varnishing

Building a Violin - Finishing

This page shows the steps for the varnishing and final fittings.


Reaming the end pin hole. The end pin hole is used to insert a tapered dowel as a handle for varnishing.	The fingerboard is removed	The sealer coat is applied. (Note the stick in the end pin hole: very helpful) I used my own mix of reddish shellac for the sealer. I use the same thing to seal guitars before spraying lacquer.

First coat of yellow oil varnish. I used oil varnish and coloring agents from International Violin Company. http://www.internationalviolin.com/	Second coat of yellow	First coat of brown varnish

Second coat of brown. The lighting was different ...	Third coat of brown	My "brown" varnish also has some red tint in it to warm up the color. It's easy to see here..

Here's a shot of Violin No. 1 strung up with violin No. 2 ready for varnishing	Here's a shot of Violin No.2 mostly done with varnish and the back of violin No. 3	Here is the back of No. 2. I decided that I wanted a darker color on No. 2