1st Biuld - HB-4S violin bass

[Simon Barden]

On various nitro finishes, but you can still get the ends sticking into the bare wood and then appearing in any finish you put on top.

What varnish finish do you plan to use? Poly doesn't attach well to older poly (any more than 24 hours) without the surface being pretty rough so it can key onto it, so with poly you don't want to have the old finish surface too smooth when applying the second set of coats.

The first couple of coats of anything will sink into the wood significantly (less so on the maple veneer than on the back and sides), so the surface will be relatively rough. You'd be hard pressed to sand it very smooth without sanding through into the finish and removing some stain in places. So certainly knock the peaks back a bit, but do be very careful.

[Rabbit]

On various nitro finishes, but you can still get the ends sticking into the bare wood and then appearing in any finish you put on top.

What varnish finish do you plan to use? Poly doesn't attach well to older poly (any more than 24 hours) without the surface being pretty rough so it can key onto it, so with poly you don't want to have the old finish surface too smooth when applying the second set of coats.

The first couple of coats of anything will sink into the wood significantly (less so on the maple veneer than on the back and sides), so the surface will be relatively rough. You'd be hard pressed to sand it very smooth without sanding through into the finish and removing some stain in places. So certainly knock the peaks back a bit, but do be very careful.

Yeh, I'm using poly. I've had no problem with re-coating more than 24h later, but as you say, you do need a good key for it to bite into. The main reason for putting a couple of coats on first before doing my striping is to prevent ripping up the fibres of the timber when the masking tape is removed (and yes, I have learnt that from previous experience ). I could do all the coats and then do the stripping, but then I have to mix up a batch of striping enamel with it's hardener. then you have to toss out whatever is left of the batch. Poly over the top of the enamel will give it the durability.