Books › The Repairing & Restoration of Violins, 1903 › scan 124
Scan 124
The Repairing & Restoration of Violins, 1903
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 106. See the scan on archive.org.
1was not, as too often supposed, done for a saving of time by one operation, but for strength and neatness. When in two parts, sometimes with a piece of purfling inserted—each side is subject to damage either by the tampering with the tail pin, the nut above, or during repeated removals of the upper table. Exposure to damp will, as a matter of course, affect the original glueing of these parts as soon as any other. The detachment from the block may remain unnoticed for some length of time, until getting worse by degrees one part may be seen to be lifted or warped away from the join. If without this appearance suspicion is aroused in some way as to looseness, it can be verified or not with little trouble by tapping with a felt-headed piano-hammer, when the sound, which should be quite solid, will, on the contrary, be rattling.
3Seemingly the repair of this part is an awkward matter from the absence of any purchase for pressing the parts and retaining them in position when freshly glued. The difficulty is more apparent than real, as there are several ways of overcoming this obstacle. To begin with one. The tail pin will, of course, be removed; if fitting rather tightly and of good length, use may be made of it.
5As usual all the parts to be glued must be cleansed by a brush and clean water, sopping up the moisture after each application, pressing repeatedly the loose parts until they seem to be clean enough. A piece of soft pine or poplar will now be cut that will be just wide enough to go easily over the parts lying over the block and which of course cover all the loose parts that require fixing: it may be a trifle under a quarter of an inch in thickness. One side must be shaped to fit the parts over the block when pressed against them and should be a sort of mould. A hole will now be pierced to admit the cylindrical part of the tail pin, or if not long enough, a made substitute with a similar rim. It should be tried by passing it through to the tail pin hole, and if it fits tight enough to sustain itself against some pulling we can proceed. The fit should be close enough so that
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