To restore the appearance to its new form, assuming this is sought,
much depends on the finish originally employed by the maker.
Early lute (and guitar) bellies show no significant signs of any
obvious surface coating, such as a shellac spirit based finish or even
an oil varnish. However, as was pointed out many years ago, old bellies
do no exhibit the sort of major dirt ingress which you mention. And
this cannot simply be put down to natural ageing and darkening of the
wood which to some extent may reduce the contrast between dirty spots
and surrounding wood.
One suggestion (originally by Ian Harwood in FoMRHI Quarterly) has been
egg tempera - a mixture of linseed oil and egg - which was certainly a
known coating at the time and much used by painters but can, over time,
leave a greenish tint and areas of sheen. Another is the use of Stand
Oil - also well known from earliest times. This is partially oxidised
linseed oil which is very viscous and does not penetrate the wood but
results in a matt finish which soon fully oxidises to a hard, but
flexible, coating.
Avoid commercial 'Stand Oil' which is generally nowadays produced by
adding chemicals to linseed oil to give some of the effects of true
Stand Oil. Simply pour linseed oil into an open dish and allow to stand
for several weeks (stirring occasionally to avoid skinning) until it
reaches a consistency of a thick treacle.
Apply sparingly with a rubber, wipe off any excess and leave for
several weeks to more fully oxidise and harden. Of course, you should
clean the affected spot(s) before doing this and if any other finish
has been applied (eg spirit shellac/French polish, modern matt
finishes, etc) this would need to be removed first.
MH
__________________________________________________________________
From: Herbert Ward <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, 27 July 2014, 21:51
Subject: [LUTE] Bare spot on soundboard.
I've worn a spot on the soundboard with my RH pinkie.
The bare wood is starting to show through the finish.
Should I do anything?
To get on or off this list see list information at
[1]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
--
References
1. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
