# Dammar Varnish?



## Lucas (Sep 20, 2011)

Hi - I've never been on this forum before but I'm looking for information on Dammar Varnish.

Has anybody ever used it to finish wood? Supposedly it makes a very brilliant looking surface, but Iv'e been told it may be brittle (alternatively, when I google it, I find some saying that it's hard as nails - so I really don't know what the true case is). 

It can be purchased as a resin, so it is dissolved in turpentine like other resins in order to make varnish. I know violins are often finished using varnish recipes that involve the use of hard resins dissolved in a solvent and pigmented for colour, sometimes mixed with drying oils. 

Just thought I would post here and see if anybody has ever used it before - any info would be appreciated!

Cheers :smile:


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

Here is some of the stuff that you are looking for.

http://www.dickblick.com/products/winsor-and-newton-dammar-varnish/

However I don't think that wood is the intended application for the product.


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## Manuka Jock (Jun 27, 2011)

Lucas said:


> but Iv'e been told it may be brittle (alternatively, when I google it, I find some saying that it's hard as nails - so I really don't know what the true case is).


 Brittle and hard are not opposites . Brittle is an opposite to flexible and hard is an opposite to soft .
So , the varnish can be both hard and brittle , a bit like my mum's toffee was when we were kids :laughing:


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

It would likely work on wood. I would experiment with it for dry times and how it may affect color and grain. Here is some info from wiki:
*
Dammar gum*_ is obtained from the Dipterocarpaceae family of trees in India and East Asia, principally those of the genera Shorea, Balanocarpus, or Hopea. Most is produced by tapping trees; however some is collected in fossilized form from the ground. The gum varies in colour from clear to pale yellow, while the fossilized form is grey-brown. Dammar gum is a triterpenoid resin, containing a large number of triterpenes and their oxidation products. Many of them are low molecular weight compounds (Dammarane, Dammarenolic acid, Oleanane, Oleanonic acid, etc), but dammar also contains a polymeric fraction, composed of polycadinene.[1]
It is used in foods, as either a clouding or a glazing agent, in the making of incense, varnishing and in other processes. Dammar was first introduced as a picture varnish in 1826 and is commonly referred to as Damar varnish.
Damar varnish is commonly used in oil painting, both during the painting process and after the painting is finished.[2] (The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques)
The name is a Malay word meaning "resin" or "torch made from resin".
There are two further types of Damar, besides the gum:


"Mata kucing" ("cat's eye") is a crystalline resin usually in the form of round balls.
"Batu" ("stone") is the name given to the stone or pebble-shaped opaque damar collected from the ground.
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## Lucas (Sep 20, 2011)

Thanks guys 

@Manaku lol I suppose that's true - the ideal finish I suppose would be neither soft nor brittle, but I don't know the characteristics of this (which I'm sure change as well depending on how it's mixed and what it's mixed with when making the varnish). 

@rrich - that is the stuff I'm referring to, but sold in very small bottles and mixed very diltue and with other chemicals that make it able to be easily removed without damaging the paint underneath when used on painting (the stuff I'm really wondering about is the raw dammar resin that you can use to mix your own varnish; I have seen some recipes for violin varnish that use it but I don't know much more than that about how it could be used on wood). 

@cabinetman thanks  I think I'll do some tests to see if it is durable enough and dries well and clear...I'm interested in it for instruments which don't need to stand up to the level of abuse that a tabletop or something might have so I'll have to get some maybe and do a few tests to see how well it works.


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## m80zimm (Aug 28, 2011)

Try this http://www.leroydouglasviolins.com/varnish.htm I don't know if that is what your looking for.


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