Looking for a specific "look"

[SteveJ]

I have an order for 18 pens which will go to violin players. I am looking for a blank which will look like a finished violin and can be engraved.

The look of stabilized maple from exotics comes close, but the color doesn't. (We ordered on orange one since online it looked plausible but in hand it is too orange).

I seldom work with stabilized blanks and thought I could get a higher gloss finish on them without adding CA (or something else).

So, two questions:

What wood should I go to that will look like the wood for a violin (preferably without resorting to staining some maple myself)?

And, if I use a stabilized blank, what is the best way to get a high gloss finish (it is what has been requested)?

 

[wolf creek knives]

How about lacquer just like most luthiers use, or at least they used to. I have a friend who used to make guitars and he used spray on lacquer and it always returned a high gloss finish.

 

[KenB259]

I have seen a lot of very nice looking instruments that are made from extremely curly wood, usually called "fiddleback". I would think any curly wood, towards the darker spectrum would work nicely.

 

[thewishman]

You won't get a lasting high gloss finish with stabilized wood. The wood fibers will still pick up oils from handling and it will dull the barrels. You'll need to add a finish to keep them glossy.

 

[Woodchipper]

Curly maple has been shown for violins, etc. As for finish, what would be the most durable?

 

[BULLWINKLE]

Curly Koa if you can find it would be a great choice. I agree with using lacquer for the finish. It's available in high gloss or matte. I use a blue paper shop towel to apply it on the lathe while it's turning. Dries pretty quickly. I'd use several coats allowing it to dry thoroughly between coats. Use the high gloss lacquer and you can use Micromesh with very light pressure (wet sanding to 12,000 grit) to get a higher gloss. I'd finish it off with a coat of Renaissance Wax. It will have a mirror like finish. Koa is getting harder to find. It's widely used for making musical instruments. This is a poor photograph of a sketch pencil I made with it. I used a lower gloss lacquer on it but it should give you an idea of how it looks. Spraying would work as good or better but I use wipe on as I am "spraying challenged" and I often have runs when I've tried the technique. I think I've seen it sold by Exotic Blanks, but I can't remember where I found it. It's available at :

Premium Curly Koa Wood Pen Blanks

Premium Curly Koa Wood Pen Blanks

woodpenpro.com

But I think you can do better on the price. Shop around. Here's a good photo of the blank.

 

[egnald]

I have seen some gorgeous curly Black Walnut on guitar backs and gunstocks. I think Claro Walnut can also be found that is quite curly. In addition to Koa of course, Cherry is sometimes curly. I even once ran across a Purpleheart board that had a lot of curl. - Dave

 

[bzahn]

I'm a violinist and violin tops are made of spruce, the back, sides and necks are made of maple with great flame, the fingerboard is made of ebony, and the pegs and chin rest can be, tipically, of ebony or rosewood. Hopefully that will give you some ideas for making the pens for violinists.

 

[SteveJ]

I'm a violinist and violin tops are made of spruce, the back, sides and necks are made of maple with great flame, the fingerboard is made of ebony, and the pegs and chin rest can be, tipically, of ebony or rosewood. Hopefully that will give you some ideas for making the pens for violin

My son-in-law plays for a major orchestra and he and I are making the pens. We chose curly maple as a starting point for the very reason you state! We may stain some "bare" curly maple blanks (after turning) if we can get the color he wants.

 

[PatrickR]

The old time finish would have been French polish, modern would be lacquer. The age of the instrument would have a big effect on color. So it depends which look you are after. Deffinetly "fiddle back maple" and the best wont be cheap and wont be found in pen blanks.

 

[MRDucks2]

As stated multiple times, you are on the right track with curly maple colored to meet your needs. It is readily available and cost effective. I believe @Benpen on this site can likely produce curly maple blanks any color you need. It will need a finish, though.

 

[Benpen]

Thanks MRDucks2 - and I agree with the curly woods- Cury Maple, Curly Koa, and even Curly Walnut (or Heavily figured Claro Walnut)

As for the coloring- I stabilize ALOT of curly maple, but not usually in the brown tones.

Since this is a hobby- I love a good challenge. Send my some pics of the colors you are after and Ill look into it. Ill attach some of my curly maple colors

 

[Woodchipper]

There is also a bird's eye maple that is unique in grain. I have seen it used for some fancy gun stocks.

 

[Fine Engineer]

Looking around a little, I found this;

Pigment Colours

cjstephenviolinsupplies supply consumables and accessories for violin, viola, cello and double bass. This includes strings, bridges and bows and luthier tools and instrument maintenance products.

www.cjstephenviolinsupplies.co.uk

Violin makers add burnt umber or burnt sienna to the varnish or shellac to get a consistent color on the different woods used for the body.

Maybe do some accents using ebony to go along with the curly maple you are starting with. Use the woods and finishes used on the real violins to make a really cool violin themed pen. Lots of possibilities with this.

 

[bzahn]

If you can do inlays, you could use some ebony in some way to simulate the purfling on the violin top.