Vernice Bianca

Vernice bianca is a type of sealer

varnish Varnish is a clear transparent hard protective coating or film. It is not a stain. It usually has a yellowish shade from the manufacturing process and materials used, but it may also be pigmented as desired, and is sold commercially in various ...

used in

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

making. It is mainly prepared with a mix of

egg white Egg white is the clear liquid (also called the albumen or the glair/glaire) contained within an egg. In chickens it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms arou ...

and

gum arabic Gum arabic, also known as gum sudani, acacia gum, Arabic gum, gum acacia, acacia, Senegal gum, Indian gum, and by other names, is a natural gum originally consisting of the hardened sap of two species of the '' Acacia'' tree, ''Senegalia sen ...

.

The following is taken directly from American Lutherie #10 in 1987 when interviewing Jack Batts. It is also in The Big Red Book vol 1 from Guild of American Luthiers.

A recipe for “Vernice Bianca” from

Simone Fernando Sacconi Simone Fernando Sacconi (May 30, 1895 in Rome – June 26, 1973 in Point Lookout) was an expert Italian violin maker and restorer who studied fellow '' luthier'' Antonio Stradivari extensively during his lifetime. "While still at school he became ...

25g of gum arabic
1/2 teaspoon of honey
1/4 teaspoon of rock candy mbiguous termbr/> about 100cc of water
albumen from one egg white.

- Crush the rock candy
- Warm the water but do not boil
- Slowly add the gum arabic, stirring constantly until dissolved
- Add honey and rock candy
- Strain the mixture through a fine cloth (handkerchief or sheeting) and let cool

While the mixture is cooling

- whip an egg white into a meringue and turn the bowl on edge.
- Allow the mixture to settle out and remove the liquid that separates. (This is the albumin)
- Add the albumin to the cooled mixture and stir well.

Use this Vernice Bianca immediately and discard the rest.

Sacconi advocated that after potassium silicate had been put on very sparingly, you should cover it completely with the vernice bianca before varnishing.

This preparation is highly efficient in strengthening the inside and outside of violins, as well as improving the acoustic of the instruments. (Increased wave propagation speed and decreased dampening of vibration). According to

, this "white varnish" is of significant importance in violin making as it allows for thinner plates, lighter and better sounding instruments. One can apply two layers of this preparation inside as well as outside of the sound box. This white varnish is transparent and is absorbed by the wood. It is absorbed by the spruce top more than by the other maple parts; it has an uniforming effect on the whole soundbox. This preparation is likely to be a key element for the "secret" of old

Cremonese Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' (Po Valley). It is the capital of the ...

instruments as a classical violin with most of its varnish gone keeps its acoustical qualities, whereas an instrument re-varnished with a wrong varnish is suffocated and loses its acoustical qualities. This varnish won't turn a bad instrument into a good one. The soundbox prior to the white varnish application must be fine tuned (plate tuning). The genius of

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the violins, violas, cellos and other string instruments built by members of the Italian family Stradivari, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), during the 17th and 18th centuries. They are co ...

was, according to Sacconi, that he was able to anticipate the modification and the potential improvement of the Vernice Bianca application and tune the unfinished instrument accordingly. Violins {{Woodworking-stub