Violin Forum/Message Board

Mat Roop · Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 9:49 am Post subject: chipped corners

There is an old beat up John Juzek viola that I have the opportunity to pick up for $50... No structural issues, not a viola of great value but I'm thinking of picking it for practice repair.... two of the corners are chipped and broken past the end of the purfling with all pieces missing including some slivers of the purling. It seems to have been a student instrument.
question is what the usual strategy is for this... cut the corner off and replace with new? But then matching the purling could be an issue. or is it best to build it back up with splinters and slivers.
Thanks for your thoughts!... Cheers, Mat

Chet Bishop · Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 9:59 am Post subject:

I really enjoy replacing corners, because it is one repair I can typically make invisible. Yes, matching purfling can be tricky, but what I usually do is to trim back the chipped-off wood (usually spruce) to a grain line, and then glue a block in place (hide-glue, of course) with grain that is at least similar, and big enough to allow carving a new corner.

Once the glue is completely dry, I carve the new corner to match the existing corners, install any missing purfling, and complete the edgework. If i do a good job on matching the other corners, in terms of size, shape, style, and, ultimately (after varnish) wear, then I have every confidence that the repair will be unnoticable. I have taken great pleasure in watching a customer minutely examining the wrong corner, and saying, "Wow...yeah... that's really good!" I do correct them, of course, so they see the real repair, but I still get a bang out of that when it happens.
_________________
Chet Bishop
https://bluefiddles.com
https://fivestringfiddles.com

Mat Roop · Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 7:57 pm Post subject:

Thanks Chet... in this case the wood is missing a couple of mm past the end of the purfling, with some bits of purfling missing... so would you .. a) lift out the existing purfling then do the wood replacement & carve a new channel, or b) leave the purfling alone and work around it?.. I'm thinking the first option.
Thanks for your thoughts... Mat

Chet Bishop · Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 4:55 pm Post subject:

Well...without a picture I am kind of shooting in the dark, here, but I suspect I would cut the block as described, but then notch it just enough to accommodate the remaining purfling, and add in the missing chips of purfling after the fact.

Replacing missing wood, in general, is something I find pretty satisfying. A friend brought me his grandfather's old fiddle, that somehow, years ago, had lost a piece of wood from the side of the neck heel, so that there was a hollow "dovetail" shaped hole in the side of the neck, reaching all the way to the neck-block. It was a very old break, and I have no idea how it happened.

But I just cleaned the sides and "back" of the hole up enough to have flat surfaces, and carved a tapering plug to fit into the hole, checking and re-checking as I went, so that when it finally fit, it was perfect, though far too tall and thick.

Once I could jam it into the hole and have a perfect joint all the way around, I slathered on the hide glue and jammed it in one last time. A little while later I cleaned up the gelled squeeze-out around the area, and the next day I carved, rasped, filed and scraped the thing flush and smooth. It looked like a white plaster patch, by comparison, so I had to go to work staining and retouching, etc. But when I was done it was almost unnoticeable...definitely not invisible, but not at all objectionable. He was thrilled with it, and I was very satisfied, overall.

Probably just beginner's luck. Smile

_________________
Chet Bishop
https://bluefiddles.com
https://fivestringfiddles.com

Mat Roop · Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 9:43 pm Post subject:

Thanks Chet... I picked up the viola today and it will go on my to do pile.. hopefully i"ll get at it in the next few months.. Cheers, Mat

oldguy · Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 5:13 pm Post subject:

I had a violin that someone put a screw in the neck heel to try to hold the neck on. I used my peg hole reamer to make the hole and then made a plug to fit the hole. Wood is so easy to work with.