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got this in, its 1880-1910 or so,
handmade, really cool looking.
from what i found out,it was a "beginners" voilin made in germany at the turn o the century. its pretty nice all in all, the pegs were lathe turned and custom made to each peg hole size. everything is quility on this piece except the fingboard, its maple, that was stained, which is odd becuz i have seen about a million pieces(furniture included) that were ebonized, it was a big thing to do back then.
anywho.
the back was starting to come off and it was warped out pretty bad, so a good re-working and re-glueing is deffinitly in order.




voilins and cellos were generally glued with hi-li glue(sp?) its this natural sap stuff that works great for a few years and then falls apart. this was done on purpose in order to replace the tone bar under the bridge ever so often, plus it makes repairs a breeze!
the glue on this peice has turned black and started to rot away, but at some point it was worked on and repaired(Im guessing 50+ years ago cuz of the style of glue that was used)
basically instead of steaming the glue line like i usually do i just heated up a putty knife with an iron and slowly worked the back off.
it took me about 2 hours to get it all the way off, which sounds like a long time but i expected it to take longer.


it may be hard to tell but you can see the crack that was repaired and you can also see that the bracing is a part of the top, its basicall just a piece that they did not carve out, very cool.

ok, to get the back to its former glory i had to make a jig or sorts....
its really just a flat surface that i can clamp the back to and press the curve back out while keeping the rest of it(sides) striaght and flat.


and its good that i made this becuz once i put the back on it, it became clear that the back itself was not flat(the sides i mean)
so while that was drying, i starting making some THIN pieces of mohogany to repair the craks in the top.

*I know this thread is probly boring most of you, and then those of you that arent bored by it are probly saying "wtf this is not a guitar!" but i think its rather cool, and it does contain a bit of knowledge that would be helpful incase any shortscaler encounters a peice with the same problems.*

once i had it set it, i turned on my iron, got out the wet paper towels and my bridge clamp(it has a deap throat making it perfect for this job)
and i started steaming away. and using the clamp i ever so carefully started to apply pressure to the center of the warp.



all of this was done yesterday in between other projects, so this morning i took off the clamps on all the pieces to check the progress.
the back looks pretty good so far, i can tell that there is a crack forming, but thats no big deal, its to be expected really, i can't honestly think that im going to get 100 years of warping out in one night witout some fight.
and the mohog veneer crack repair thing turned out better than i thought it would.



it looks like there is a gap in the photo, but its just the shadow that makes it look like there is space between the veneer and the top.

Nice change of pace. Apparently the first guy that repaired it ate all of the candy corn that was hidden inside, sucks for you.

yeah i know, i really wanted to have some of the 100 year old candy corn, it would have been AMAZING!

Hmm, not to sound too cynical or anything, but is it worth restoring such an old instrument? Stringed instruments only usually have a maximum decent/worthy life of about 80-100 years at absolute best.

BobArsecake wrote:Stringed instruments only usually have a maximum decent/worthy life of about 80-100 years at absolute best.

so much wrong with this statement. though, you're probably right about this particular violin.

rob, do you know how to set up the sound post?
i've got a super old violin like that that my dad gave me. one day our water heater burst and started dumping hot water right on the violin, destroying the case and dissolving the glue holding the violin together. i still haven't got around to fixing it as it wasn't a particularly good violin to begin with and i don't really play violin.
and the maple fingerboard is weird, violins pretty much always have ebony.

i actually don't know how to set it up rather than under the bridge and from looking at the old one i have gathered a few things about it, the way its shaped anyway.
arscake, the wood is 100 years old,
its primo man!
you know, after a while the wood carmalizes and pretty much ripens.
and plus its really good for the experience. I would love to build a voilin one day and probly the best way to getting to that point is to repair as many as i can and inspect as many as i can.

bubbles_horwitz wrote:

BobArsecake wrote:Stringed instruments only usually have a maximum decent/worthy life of about 80-100 years at absolute best.

so much wrong with this statement. though, you're probably right about this particular violin.

rob, do you know how to set up the sound post?
i've got a super old violin like that that my dad gave me. one day our water heater burst and started dumping hot water right on the violin, destroying the case and dissolving the glue holding the violin together. i still haven't got around to fixing it as it wasn't a particularly good violin to begin with and i don't really play violin.
and the maple fingerboard is weird, violins pretty much always have ebony.

I meant if they're well used, especially with acoustic guitars etc. That's what I was told by an experienced acoustic guitar, violin, mandolin etc maker anyway.

BobArsecake wrote:I meant if they're well used, especially with acoustic guitars etc. That's what I was told by an experienced acoustic guitar, violin, mandolin etc maker anyway.

i guess if you're really fond of an instrument, it's always worth fixing. of course, these violins were the squiers of their day, so they probably aren't worth it for the average musician.

rob, indiana university offers a course in violin making. i'm not sure how far you are from bloomington.
i always thought it'd be cool to do that. there's nothing like that out here.

i actually know a guy from indy that took that class.
said it wasn't it really all that great, kinda cheap to him.
im about 2 1/2 hours away from bloomington. its a crazy weird campus.
there is a place called kirkwood that has all these cool lil hippie shops, and go figure, its super easy to get pot down there as well.
on the plus side of the voilin, its made of wood, so that is a plus,
i can score a new voilin from the shop here in town for like 150, but its all laminated and it looks like it was dunked in a vat of poly.
like i said, its a great learning experience for me, and its fun to try something new.
doing the same crap over and over and over again gets boring really fast, once you have made one to the best of your ability it kinda loses its appeal.
does that make any sense?

Robert, you are sick! Why not just put your dink in a vise and get it over with. You have a lot of guts. I think it's well worth doing, especially with old wood. Besides, now it's one more thing you know how to do.

my dick in a vise.....
that sounds like a grand idea!!!
when i really start to re-shape the back will be the tru learning experience im going to try something i have only ever read about,
much like a how to thread.
it involves a few socks filled with sand and then heated up......

bubbles_horwitz wrote:

BobArsecake wrote:I meant if they're well used, especially with acoustic guitars etc. That's what I was told by an experienced acoustic guitar, violin, mandolin etc maker anyway.

i guess if you're really fond of an instrument, it's always worth fixing. of course, these violins were the squiers of their day, so they probably aren't worth it for the average musician.

Yeah, he's a bit of a snobby elitist sometimes, like he's really not keen on electric instruments, and he was just saying how if an instrument is a professional one, a top notch, well made, well used one, is only worth keeping/will only last as long as I said above 'cause it'll get worn and naturally warp as the wood dries and lose it's proper sound, the fretboard wearing, and then just general wear and tear that goes with ragging an instument all the time.

that's probably what he tells people to stay in business. if everyone used old guitars, he'd be out of a job.

Hahah, I'll challenge him with that one ;]

robert kicking teh skill's


thats was fucking awsome dude , when you finish it , don't forgett ask the player do an demo

i knew i need do one of my amp too lmao

dude, your threads are always super interesting and informative.

very nice work! if i had an old ass violin, you would be the guy i would see about it!

if you had an old ass voilin, and it was worth something i would tell to look for another guy, im just trying it out really, it would be great to known for my repair work on a voilin but im not that cool.
anyway, after i glued some stuff this morning i did some more steaming on the voilin, modified the jig and started in on flattening the back(the edges rather)
i also had some cracks to repair......
all i did was glue in a piece, then sanded, and chizzled it down to the same(about) thickness as the wood itself. its still strong and it will still stay pretty well but by making it extra thin in alowing for some more resonance in the wood(i hope)

TRILL thread is TRILL

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