I recently finished a Baroque lute and used egg white as a sizing and two
coats of oil varnish (very dark) that I made. I applied the oil varnish
with a French polish fad, (super thin) and got a very even color, (because
the egg white sealed the wood therefore preventing the wood from absorbing
the oil varnish) looks almost like there is no finish at all.
To my surprise, the lute is now about 4 months old and there is
absolutely no smudge marks or dirt from my arm or pinky, in contrast to my
other one that I did in just egg white, and after the first day it had what
appeared to be a defiant discoloration.
As historical lutes don't seem to have this (discoloration ) problem.
Maybe they used something besides just egg white.
Michael Thames
Luthier
www.ThamesClassicalGuitars.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Daniel F Heiman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2003 8:43 AM
Subject: Re: cleaning the lute soundboard
>
> On Fri, 24 Oct 2003 09:56:14 +0200 Stefan Ecke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> > Dear list members,
> >
> > I know that some people clean the sound boards of their lutes,
> > especially where the little finger touches it. What methods
> > can be recommended?
>
> <snip>
>
> > Greetings,
> > Stefan
> >
>
> Stefan:
>
> This is very much an individual question. The amount and nature of the
> dirt a soundboard collects is related to your own personal body chemistry
> and hand-washing habits (as Bob Clair pointed out), but also to the type
> of finish (or lack thereof) on the soundboard. Thus the cleaning
> methodology will depend on these variables as well.
>
> When I purchased my first lute from Matthias Durvie (which has, as far as
> I know, no finish at all on the soundboard), he recommended cleaning it
> with a soft white pencil eraser without any abrasive content. It works
> very well for that instrument, though I can never attain a completely
> pristine appearance.
>
> My other instruments, with varnished soundboards, really do not show any
> significant soiling.
>
> An instrument with a varnished soundboard may survive cleaning with an
> aqueous medium (e.g. saliva) very nicely, whereas on an unfinished
> soundboard the water may raise the grain and cause the wood to pick up
> dirt much faster the next time.
>
> Regards,
>
> Daniel Heiman
>
> >
> >
> >
>
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