INJURIES THAT CAN BE REPAIRED FROM THE OUTSIDE--INSERTION OF FRESH WOOD
IN FRACTURE OF THE RIBS--THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE ON THE GLUE IN VIOLINS.
We may now take this portion of the work as finished and turn to the
consideration of repairs of fractures or filling up of parts last. It
is early yet to think of opening the instrument for the purpose of
rectification of anything that appears to have gone wrong either with
the general structure or with small details. A golden rule to be
observed by all repairers is that of never opening an instrument--that
is removing the upper or lower table--until all other means of
correction have proved futile. Extensive repairs to the interior may
be accomplished without opening after a very careful look over with
proper calculation. There are several reasons for keeping the above
rule well in mind, among them, that if the violin is old and has
undergone much affliction while under the hands of many doctors, some
of these possibly belonging to the "heroic school," it may be found
that the last visitant of the interior had straightened, bent, or
contracted and held some of the parts together while the glue was in
process of drying and that sufficient time had not elapsed since the
occurrence for the strained parts to settle down under their new
condition. An opening of the violin, removal of upper or lower table
or any large portion, must be undertaken after due consideration and
every precaution has been taken that nothing shall be disturbed if the
reparation can be accomplished without. An opening of the instrument
for the purpose of one repair may lead to the necessity of half a dozen
before closing up again. Our opening ceremony will therefore be
postponed until a future occasion, and we will confine ourselves to
the consideration of such external injuries of ancient or recent origin
that may be with the least inconvenience restored to ordinary health
or even strength. The numbers of such and their varieties are more than
can be related, the curious manner of their occurrence, too, would be
an addition that would indefinitely prolong the story.
Taking, therefore, small injuries or fractures that can be repaired
from the outside, among the first coming to mind and not infrequently
seen, is at the corners, a small piece of the projecting part of the
rib--one of the upper or lower sets; this may have caught against
something and got lifted away from the block, it may be on one side
or the other, in size perhaps little more than an eighth of an inch,
but all the same requiring immediate attention, or dirt will get in
and make an adjourned repair more difficult if not wholly impossible
to obscure.
According to the condition, age and date of the injury, so the treatment
must be. If the injury is quite recent and the fractures are quite clean,
some good thick glue placed on the exposed surface and the lifted piece
placed back in position may remain there with no further attention than
the wiping off when dry of any superfluous glue that may have exuded
when pressing the part on. This has been a simple matter, but if the
part knocked away is lost, a different course must be pursued. As it
would be impossible to find a piece of fresh wood to fit a ragged or
irregular-shaped hollow, there is but one method to proceed upon, that
of clearing a regular space with a sharp pointed knife. The walls of
the space or opening should be as clean in line as possible, also quite
vertical. A small keen-edged chisel may be found advantageous, as, by
its aid, using it with the angular or sharpened side downwards, the
floor of the excavation can be reduced to a fair level. This
hollowing-out should not be too deep, leaving as much as possible of
the bare wood uncut, only enough being removed for a good holding
surface. If this is done neatly, the opening will be like that of a
box into which will be fitted the fresh wood. As to this last it should
be selected to match both with regard to texture and age whenever
possible, also in continuation of the run of the grain, so that when
fitted it should look as much like the surrounding wood as possible,
that is, when free of varnish. In cutting the wood to the required size
it should not, as in the instance of the aperture, be made with
perfectly upright sides, but the parts that are to go into the aperture
should be a fraction less than the outer, so as to allow of its being
pressed in and fitting very closely all round. As the parts under
consideration lie in the curved parts on the structure, to fit a piece
in with success, it should also be bent with a requisite curve; if this
is not attended to, and the clear varnish comes over it when being
finished off, there will be a glistening of the grain underneath when
shifted about in the light. To avoid this, which is apt to draw
attention to the repaired parts, a larger piece of veneer than
necessary should be first bent into the proper curve and the part nearly
small enough cut from it and then made to fit. The bending of the piece
can be effected by steeping it in some hot water, pressing it into form;
being but a small portion, it will probably retain its inclination;
if large enough and obstinate it must be kept bent by some means until
dry, when it will show no disposition to revert back to its old form.
If these particulars are all attended to with care, the piece of wood
or veneer will only require a little pressure--the opening being gone
over with strong glue--to retain its form in proper position. In case
of failure under these conditions and the parts not holding together
as they should, another course must be adopted.
It will be most likely that some grease is the cause of the
non-adherence of the parts. The remedy will be that of using a little
benzine on a brush and wiping or mopping out with a small piece of linen
on the end of a pointed stick of soft wood, after which, when quite
dry, some fresh glue must be applied, and the parts pressed together
and held in position.
Ingenuity and the perception of the adaptation of means to an end will
constantly be called into exercise, and at a part of the instrument
such as is at present under consideration, will be often severely taxed.
Want of purchase or no direct pressure being possible, or at least
perceptible, will be the complaint of the operator, but this can always
be overcome with a little patience.
Now supposing that a piece has come off at the upper part of the waist
curve, and if narrow or the curve is sudden it will at first sight be
a little puzzling as to keeping pressure on the fresh part, even if
cut sharply and ready to be deftly inserted. The difficulties will be
considerably lessened, if not disposed of, if we take up a portion of
soft pine or poplar, cut it in a moment or two to shape, so as to very
loosely fit the upper curve or part we are about to glue, and not quite
reaching the lower or usually larger curve of the waist; a small piece
of cork placed between the wood to be inserted and that which is to
press it while in position and another piece of cork of a wedge form
can be squeezed in at the other end, so as to prevent the varnish being
injured and to tighten the pressure, which will not be necessarily
great if the fitting is good.
Another kind of repair not unfrequently necessary, and which should
not be delayed, is caused by the parting of the two ribs at the angle,
in consequence often of accidental knocks and over weak glue. This is
a more difficult part at which to get direct pressure than almost any
part of the instrument. Many repairers would lift up the loose part
or parts, both being occasionally loose, brush a little glue in,
squeeze the parts together and leave them. When dry the ends will under
this treatment seldom be found to meet properly as in their original
condition. The best mode of repairing will be found that of proceeding
by degrees, overcoming the enemy in detail. Thus firstly, we must
observe whether the junction or construction of this part has been
effected in the old Brescian manner--that is, the two equal parts being
brought together, or according to the later method, the end of the
middle rib being placed in position first, trimmed to a feather edge
and the upper left thick and slightly overlapping it and afterwards
trimmed into shape. In both instances the under surfaces must be
cleaned and all the hard old glue softened and cleared out, if
unfractured the surfaces of both corner block and rib fitting will be
as originally left by the maker. In either style of construction it
will be best to proceed first with the middle rib and support or prop
it against the block in the way before mentioned. When quite dry we
can remove the pressure and get to work at the other. After being quite
sure that no hard glue or foreign particles remain between the surfaces
to prevent a perfect fit as in the original condition, a small mould
cut from soft wood again and of a size and shape that will fit loosely
the semi-circular part must be cut, and some soft paper got ready to
go between as a protection for the varnished part. If the parts are
not much worn away, or the front and back plates are in fair condition,
the rib may be glued and the screw cramp, cork or paper of course being
used as a protector, and the rib will be held in position. If this is
not sufficient for getting a close and accurate fit, the soft wood mould
mentioned above must be placed, and a slight pressure gained by a wedge
of wood gently inserted and pressed home. This mode of repair, it will
be borne in mind, is when the upper and lower plates are in fairly good
condition. Different treatment would be adopted if both were separated
or the upper one taken off.
Sometimes the cramping, although sufficient for getting a good mend
where there is a good extent of surface, will not be quite the thing
for a small part, perhaps a slight opening at the extreme edge; in this
instance a wooden mould, cut in a few minutes from a flat board large
enough to allow of an oval aperture being made that will admit of the
body of the violin being passed through. This being done and a small
wedge being here and there judiciously inserted, will enable the
operator to get enough purchase, or advantage may be taken of the
juxtaposition of the cramp, and using both to gain the requisite
pressure against the bend of the rib in the manner before mentioned.
There are as a matter of course extremely numerous kinds of fractures
or injuries arising from almost as many different causes. If time and
space permitted, they might be classified and each credited to their
different agencies. Sufficient for our purpose, however, will be the
separation of them into three divisions: firstly, those which may be
the outcome or result of ordinary wear and giving way of parts through
atmospheric influence, such as damp or excessive dryness, or both at
times, in combination with varying temperature. People are apt to debit
the climate of Britain with many shortcomings and the cause of much
undoing of good work in the fiddle world and the prevention of its being
accomplished in the concluding stages of fiddle facture.
Much of the good quality attached to Italian instruments has been
attributed to the beautiful and dry air of Italy. Now that Italy has
beautiful air no one can deny, that is, while not standing in the
streets of some of the most interesting cities therein, but that it
is dry generally is perhaps going beyond the mark; remember it is a
very mountainous place with some exceptional portions, this may be
easily verified by a glance over a good map of the place, or better,
a tour by railway from the northern provinces down as far as Naples.
Knowledge is fairly general as to mountainous districts, much more than
plains, being the localities where rain is most frequent, the more or
less saturation of the atmosphere following as a matter of course.
But let Italian fiddles speak for themselves, otherwise than through
the medium of gut strings. The first makers of violins in Brescia used
no side linings, but trusted to the most excellent quality of their
glue for holding back and front to the ribs. That their trust was not
misplaced in many instances is proved by the work in its primitive
condition remaining intact to the present day. With the rise of the
Cremonese school, delicacy in treatment of detail became fashionable;
makers found that in order to give expression to their ideas in as many
particulars as possible over the work, especially in respect of
refinement in the curving of the ribs, less thickness of wood in these
parts would have to be used, especially when of very decided curl; but
this would not hold well except in the driest districts. The system
was then introduced of using the thin slips of wood running from block
to block; the thickness of these, although slight, added to the thin
substance of the rib, allowed a better holding power to back and front.
The fact is here evident that the glue, of exceeding good quality--and
that it was so will be corroborated by all repairers who have had to
do with the old Italian instruments--was too easily affected by the
damp of the atmosphere.
Further evidence frequently turns up among the great numbers of old
Italian instruments gathered from all sorts of places, of the efforts
at combating the effects of damp. Some of the means adopted by various
repairers, apparently in the smaller towns--judging by the bad, even
extraordinary woods used--have been very curious, many interesting,
others primitive, even stupid. At about the same time the Amatis were
introducing the use of side-linings, Giov. Maggini was trying other
means of preventing the parting of the upper and lower tables from the
ribs by damp. A method he adopted, and which many later makers
imitated--if it did not occur to them spontaneously--was by cutting
a groove all round and inserting the ribs. It will be obvious from this
that no linings were used in these instances. That his efforts were
not followed by success may be concluded from the fact that he did not
persevere with the system. The simple method of his master was fallen
back upon and thicker ribs placed in position. When we come across one
of those grooved tables it will probably be found--as might have been
anticipated by Maggini had he known beforehand of the course to be taken
by his art, which was at the time almost a local one--that a repairer
has at one time thought it necessary to lift the ribs from one or the
other plate, and almost, of course, bungled over it. This will be seen
in the irregularity of the fitting of the ribs, which have been
ruthlessly cut or torn out of the groove, some portions being left in.
Taking them out was found to be unprofitable work, with a general result
of a wretched wreck remaining, instead of the whole original being
there but shifted a little, from the glue losing its hold while
perishing from the action of moisture.