I have been working on a BBO with a slightly different pattern of reflex than my usual and it seems to be working out well.  Bow is 64" long and will finish about 48# at 27".   Bamboo, osage, padauk, and bocote. 

Matt

I have also begun to add finish to the fiddle for those interested.  I made my own varnish from alcohol, shellac flakes, mastic gum, and juniper resin.  This varnish is designed to accentuate the grain in the wood and also add a little color.  I might try it on a bow now that I see how nicely it made the grain pattern of the maple "pop". 

Both are beautiful

Both look great. Do you play the fiddle yourself?

Quote from: Buemaker on April 23, 2022, 06:25:49 PM
Both look great. Do you play the fiddle yourself?

X2

Quote from: Buemaker on April 23, 2022, 06:25:49 PM
Both look great. Do you play the fiddle yourself?

I play only very simple songs at best.  My boys are both significantly better than I'll ever be and the older one in particular is a very good player.  I've always been interested in the history of these instruments so I thought I would try and see what all goes into building one.  Has been a fun project.

Matt

Beautiful Matt!

I flattened and sanded some really nice Black Myrtle with some fiddle and Tiger mixed in. And a nice spalted Myrtle board also. Lots of chips. Started out at 1-1/16" to 1-1/8" and wound up at 15/16".

Flint - beautiful work on both of your "stringed instruments"!

Nice Gary

Love that bow Flint Violin looks good too!
Especially like the homemade varnish, bet it smells good with the Juniper resin.

Flint, do you have a recipe for that varnish. I make a simple varnish by dissolving hard pitch in alcohol but it's not a true varnish.

I am interested in your varnish recipe also. I have made some with shellac and various other ingredients. The best ones used the hardest resins I could find, which are Ponderosa pine and Doug Fir and Alpine Larch.
Ponderosa varnish smells like vanilla. Be warned, if you make delicious varnish, you will be temped to lick your bow

This outfit has a lot of good supplies for the adventurous. Funny thing, a lot of the supplies can be used to make high explosives in addition to stains and varnishes.

https://woodfinishingenterprises.com

Flem, it's an interesting site but they seem to have some web problems at this time. 

 It's a poorly engineered website. It's all there and accessible, but difficult to navigate.

Be sure to check out the Tech Info section. It has a lot of good recipes.

Put the final finish on the WP II

Waiting for the Big Jim's Buffalo satin epoxy to dry , so I can handle it.

One more. I seal and fill all the wood grain with glossy epoxy. It only gets two coats of satin at the end. Don't want to milk it up. JF

Feather Rest and side plate, made by me

Lookin good Jeff!

What's a WPII?