General, Master's Secrets

My Spirit Varnish Recipe

published Mar 6, 2020 by Edgar E. Russ

Spirit varnish is nothing else then varnish made with alcohol. There is a lot of
secrecy around the perfect recipe, which is certainly very important, as long as
you like it is the best.
I would advise you to experiment with it and will discover things you don’t like
and that you will change.

When I first came to Cremona the recipe was kind of a secret: everyone was
keeping theirs for themselves. I went through a lot of trials and errors to get to the
recipe I am going to share with you today.

The instruments i varnish with this kind of varnish are the Linea Macchi and
the Scala Perfetta ones.

Once the varnish is dry, it is really similar to the oil one, but it finally depends on
the way you apply it.
I love oil varnish and if I had to choose I would go for oil varnish, but spirit
varnish is an easy type of process and it’s also fun to use and to explain.
After a lot of years experimenting with spirit varnish I start by using a plastic
container with a cap, in which and I pour my ingredients.

To make your own spirit varnish you will have to measure with a scale:

• 3 liters of Alcohol
• 16 grams of curcuma, it gives a nice yellow color. If it’s too yellow for you
don’t put so much
• 50 grams of benzoe, it makes the varnish a little more shiny
• 80 grams mastix
• 200 grams of juniper
• 400 grams of shellack

After you add all the ingredients you have to shake the mix. You don’t need to
cook it, you just leave it and give it a good shake every day.

Before you use it, you then have to filter it: I use a nylon filter (some old
pantyhose are fine) or a cotton cloth to get a filtered varnish to then apply on my
instruments.

Greetings, Edgar Russ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAxwfSXM3Hk

https://www.violincellomaker.com/2020/03/06/my-spirit-varnish-recipe/
 General, Master's Secrets
What you need to cook Oil Varnish
published Mar 6, 2020 by Edgar E. Russ

Today we will be talking about the ingredients you need to prepare my oil
varnish.

In the last blog post we talked about the Oil, here you can read more about it.

First of all the Amber: I usually get it from Kremer Pigmente and it comes in
different shapes. It can be bought in pieces or also in powder, a “waste material”,
the latter takes longer to heat up and has a greater volume, I personally prefer the
pieces.

Some people even search the transparent pieces but I don’t think is that crucial.
The reason why I don’t choose the pieces is because on one side we want it with a
very specific color but also transparent.

At the beginning I thought you had to choose the specific pieces, but the
transparency of the varnish is something you achieve with time, with the aging
process. The variety of pieces and colors makes it darker and more interesting.

For oil varnish I use amber but you can also use other resins like shellac, juniper
or mastic.

My recipe is very short: washed linseed oil and amber. Simple and easy. A small
jar goes a long way.

At the beginning of my career in varnish-making I made about 120 different

varnishes, varying in type of resins, oils, portions and in cooking time. I studied
the color, the transparency, the flexibility and the varnish I use today is the result
of a lot of testing.

In my opinion the varnish is crucial for the quality of the instrument, and it’s
actually very fun to make.

Pay attention, you should not cook your varnish in a metal container but in a glass
one, it has to be fire resistant.

Open fire with oil on it is very dangerous, but in cooking the varnish I think is
essential to have an open fire, because an electronic cooking pad would take hours
to heat up your amber to 300 degrees.

Putting a glass container is working good but is very dangerous, it happen to me

more than once to have the varnish exploding.
 General, Master's Secrets
Don’t do it at your house, never with little children around and never when is
raining: a small drop of water would make the whole mixture explode. Watch out
for you eyes, always use protection grasses.

Another small detail: there is no need for a thermometer, you don’t have to take
the temperature. If you want to stir it only use fire resistant glass sticks.

These are my ingredient and things you need,

Thank you,

Edgar Russ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuDWumP7pVY&t=6s
https://www.violincellomaker.com/2020/03/06/what-you-need-to-cook-oil-
varnish/