As you advance step by step, and before you venture on another layer, with the tip of your finger test the varnish, and if there be the least tackiness, wait a day or two until all be dry. And as a roughness is bound to show itself as stage after stage is passed, it is well to smooth down each course when dry with fine No. 0 glass-paper upon which is first spread a drop of pure Lucca oil, which, of course, must be lightly applied to the body of varnish, and the whole carefully wiped with clean linen or silk handkerchief afterwards.
Now, after the first two coats, you must use about a three-quarter inch fine hog-hair brush (not many hairs in, mind) and for the later coats one with camel hair. Sit on a low chair, have the light to your right hand, the varnish before you handy, not too high. The violin is held by neck, left hand of course; the stick at the broad end through the hole where comes later the end pin (see above) rests on your right leg as you sit. Get a fair dip of varnish in your brush, but NEVER flood it; and beginning carefully under the fingerboard, first one side, then the other, working the top sides of the instrument also alternately, until the soundholes be reached, when inside these cuts must be neatly coloured, after which you just tip your brush with the varnish, neatly continuing where you leave off, so that none can see a break in your progress. This advice applies until ribs and scroll be all done after the belly and the back. I have ever found the upper table the most exacting and difficult; but, once again, never flood your brush, and you will varnish sooner or later. But never hurry: and this advice applies to every thing you do in the construction of the violin. Patience of no ordinary character you must exercise; if you have it not it will come to you, but through experience alone, through failures, through catastrophes innumerable. But what then? These things that have mastered you stand mastered in turn in the excellent result of to-day, so let yesterday go to the wall.
Now that we can consider the operation of varnishing at an end, the instrument is hung on a wire, free to the warm dry air of a room or to a passage where a current of it is circulating. When hard (and there is no actual time to gauge this by) prepare to finish off and rub down the whole; and care must be observed that no scratch appears, for a surface looks bad, very bad, with anything of this sort to mar its beauty.
The first essential in this process is pure Lucca oil, which does not clagg; and the next, specially prepared pumice stone powder, which must be as fine as flour; and should there be any doubt about its being absolutely free from specks of grit, filter it through fine muslin or silk, and only use that which passes through, in water.
Then take some brown paper and make a pad, rubbing on oil and a sprinkling of the pumice stone powder, when you can go over portions of the back, very lightly feeling your way to see whether all works smoothly and no scratch in the operation. If this be so, continue on these lines, sparingly adding more powder, but freely using the oil. You can, to smooth off, use saturated rag (oiled) and after that, a dry pad of very fine muslin or silk.
The belly is tedious, more so than the back, and the ribs still more so. Contrivances to get into corners and curves of the latter, you will have to resort to, such as small pieces of paper, and pumice stone and oil, and oiled fine glass-paper, and finely rubbed pieces of curved wood, with which you can operate to smooth near edges of ribs, etc.
All can be done well, all must be done well; for, remember, there is to be no French rubbish (polish, I mean), on the top of this oil varnish, but your hand must finally bring up its lustre, as I can show you mine has so frequently brought to a rich glow that preparation made and used by me, on my own work only.
CHAPTER XVII.
FITTING UP FOR USE.