Introduction

[David Van Zandt <dvz@eskimo.com>]

	I am a violin maker and a member of the American Federation of
Violin and Bow Makers.  I'm called upon in the course of my business to
maintain, repair and restore bowed stringed instruments.  It is my goal to
incorporated more conservation techniques into my work.  I believe that it
is the general intension of the AFVBM to develop collaborative
relationships with museums and conservators in order to educate its
membership in the correct use of the language, tools and methodology of
conservation. 
	Since working musicians use their instruments as tools and demand
that we optimize those tools for preformance we are often thrown into
situations where we must educatate the musician, to the benefit of the
object, or compromize our work in the name of cost and expedience, to the
detriment of the object.  Frequently we do a combination of both. If we,
as violin repair persons, are to be put in the role of educators, we
ourselves need to be educated.
	The over-cleaning and polishing of the varnish has been an area
where we have been very clumsy in the past.  My hope is that there will be
some discussion in this group of the care and maintenance of coatings for
musical instruments. 

David T. Van Zandt                           http://www.eskimo.com/~dvz/    
dvz@eskimo.com            (206) 789-7294             Seattle, Washington