PlowFat

This week, we've had some peg bushings to carry out. The old peg holes can become worn over time. When this happens, the old holes are cleaned out and plugged with new timber. The hardest part of this procedure is retouching the varnish. This involves applying colored varnish to the new wood to blend it in with the original. This job is surrounded by a lot of mystery in the violin world, and to be fair, it can be a demanding task. As tricky as it can be, it is very rewarding when it goes well and is a job that I have begun to enjoy over the years.

This English violin is still in its baroque form, most likely with its original boxwood pegs. This is fairly unusual, as most violin old violins have been adapted to accommodate the higher tension of modern strings. A typical feature of English violins that this instrument displays is the painted purling as opposed to the normal inlay. The process of painting the purfling on I find almost as difficult as inlaying the purfling. The, admittedly poor, photo shows the violin when it arrived at our workshop.