Dana, I use a couple of very thin coats of clear (as close as it gets) shellac for the belly followed by a light sanding with 600 paper once it is completely dry (over night). Then 6 or 7 coats of really good wax. I prefer the Renaissance Wax to simple bees wax (Bob Lundberg had a long and involved formula of which I've used some wax but never attempted myself).
The belly remains quite bright and white, depending on the original wood, and is protected from moisture, finger prints (dirty pinky syndrome) and light bumps. At the very great risk of starting the foolishness up again, I would never use oil on any tone wood. I do use it, in the form of a polymerized oil varnish, on the neck and fingerboard. Best, Rob Dorsey http://RobDorsey.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, September 03, 2006 1:58 PM To: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [LUTE] Re: Lute Finishes On Sat, Sep 2, 2006, Rob Dorsey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: > Hi Rebecca, > > I French polish my lute bodies. Note, he said bodies, not tops. Both top and the rest of the instrument want finish of some kind, but each part of the lute has somewhat different requirements of a finish. The top must remain musically responsive, a heavy finish would dampen the high frequencys and make the instrument sound dull. It is desirable to have some coating to keep dirt and skin-oils from staining and to allow cleaning with a damp top, but nothing more than that. Historical finishes for the top are conjectured at today, we can make pretty good guesses, but are not 100% certain cause it was a trade secret, and very few surviving instruments have tops that are original. Iconographical evidence suggests the color of the top was only slightly darkened by whatever was used; the egg-based finish used on contemporary paintings has been tried modernly - it has proven useful and satisfactory. A lute left out of its case atracts dust, it settles/gathers under the strings (most of the rest of the lute gets handled). > Plain linseed or walnut will not > fully dry to hard and it is most difficult to build up a filling > finish with them. I use a polymerized oil varnish which dries > relatively quickly and can be built up so as to fill grain. Note that Walnut, Linseed, and other natural oils were used historically for finishing all manner of wooden objects - spoons, tool handles, harpsichord keys. We have more practical alternatives today. -- Dana Emery To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
