Books › The Repairing & Restoration of Violins, 1903 › scan 53
Scan 53
The Repairing & Restoration of Violins, 1903
4 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 39. See the scan on archive.org.
1completely, owing to the fibrous, or threadiness of the mass, but this constitution is the safeguard against its contraction, the glue in drying clinging round the fibres instead of to itself. When dry and hard the projecting portions can be neatly levelled off. If, as will sometimes happen, a little hole or two can be perceived, perhaps under magnifying power, the process can be repeated on a minute scale. By attention to the above there will be but small risk of contraction, and if cleanly done there will not be much trouble in colouring the part to match the surroundings.
3We can now advance another step and notice a frequently occurring fracture that is caused by the constant pressure and tuning up of the A peg, at a part which in many violins, owing to the peculiarity of design, is a very weak one, the grain of the wood above the peg being short and liable to overstraining by impetuous performers. Being one of the most inconvenient positions on the instrument for working upon, if the repairing is not effected in a methodical manner, it is nearly certain to come undone again. The crack is more often than not unperceived for a considerable time by the performer, and meanwhile grease and dirt work their way secretly into the pores of the wood. A repairer may take a glance at the state of the fracture, whip out some glue, paint a little on each side, wriggle the whole well at the risk of extending the wound, get in a little more glue, and let that harden under pressure from the cramps, which—unless extraordinary care and skill is exercised, damage other portions of the work—replace the peg and send the instrument home again apparently as sound as new (diagram 20). This treatment, if resorted to immediately after a sudden and clean fracture, may be effectual for some time, but if, as above mentioned, it has begun secretly and enlarged by degrees, the kind of repairing described will serve but a few turns of the peg, when crack it goes once more. Off to the fiddle hospital again, where it may be possibly subjected to a repetition of the treatment, especially if the owner is of an economical turn of mind as regards "bill of costs."
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.