REPAIRS TO PURFLING (CONTINUED)--FILLING UP AN OPENING EXTENDING TO
THE WHOLE LENGTH OF THE VIOLIN--FITTING THE CORE--FIXING IT IN POSITION
AND RETAINING IT THERE--FINISHING THE SURFACE.
Many old Italian violins bear indications of the haste of the maker
to get the purfling done, and so without the delay of any intermediary
process the purfling has been pressed in with great risk and
sometimes an inevitable result of fracture.
In the present instance, the violin having all the evidence of great
care having been expended on its construction and finish, the repair,
to be as successful as possible, must be carried out on the same
principle, every little deviation of curve being well imitated. For
the bending of the purfling there may be, of course, any number of
methods. According to the consistency of the material, so the
management must be.
At present the piece of purfling, having been taken from a portion of
an old violin bought for the purpose of breaking up and using for
repairs, is very dry and rather brittle. The light coloured part or
central portion is of some hard wood that refuses to accommodate itself
easily to the requirements of the moment; this is found to be the case
on trying a small portion with the fingers--it goes with a snap on very
little attempt being made to bend it.
James having met with this kind of thing before, knows more than one
way of meeting the difficulty. As is often found, a rough and ready
way is good for a small amount of work such as he has before him.
He takes a candle and lights it. He has always at hand a jar of water
ready for any damping required in the number of little odd jobs
constantly occurring. Placing the jar of water within easy reach, he
dips the purfling into it once and then wipes it with his handy cloth.
Taking the two ends with the fingers of each hand he passes it backward
and forward near the flame of the candle, using a gentle pressure to
make it assume a crescent or bow shape. The heat causes the damp to
evaporate and steam the materials, and the purfling will gradually
assume the required curve.
When this latter happens to be short or sudden, another dip and heating
may be necessary.
This being successfully accomplished, recourse is now had to the glue
pot, a pointed piece of wood is dipped into it, and a small streak of
glue is laid in the groove. The purfling is now carefully inserted along
the course, pressed in and left to dry.
After a sufficient time has elapsed, James looks over it, and finding
all things ripe for finishing, takes a gouge of a size that will suit
the channelling of the particular model adopted by the maker.
Great care is necessary to shave off but a small portion as the gouge
is passed along. The latter has a very keen edge, or it will tear instead
of cut. It is used here and there in contrary direction, as the grain
of the several parts of the purfling does not run quite level. A curved
file, and finally a little glasspapering, will complete the matter so
far. There will be for the finishing of the whole of the fresh wood
a further process to go through, that is, a slight damping.
This can be done with a small fine grained sponge or a moderately wet
camel hair brush. This is for the purpose of slightly raising the grain.
If this is not done at this time the soft part of the grain may show
its automatic tendency to swell after the final process of varnishing
has been gone through. When quite dry, fine glasspaper is used to reduce
the surface to an almost polished level, after which some clear oil,
having good drying qualities, is brushed lightly but completely over
all portions of the fresh work.
It will not be absolutely necessary that this should be quite dry and
hard before proceeding with the varnishing down to the tint of the old
and surrounding work.
This being a separate and independent branch of the art of restoration,
will be treated apart hereafter.
For the present we will be content to know that this varnishing, a very
delicate process in connection with the repair, is undertaken by the
chief himself, who sets to work at once and in a manner as if it were
a true labour of love, there being no hurry, but careful time-ignoring
attention to matching and calculation of effect. Just before settling
down with colours, essences, solvents and brushes, he gives directions
to his man James to "finish up the crack or fracture in that old
'Stainer' lying on the shelf there behind."
When it is taken down from its place of repose, James looks at it for
a moment and then observes, "Rather an awkward job, this, sir! It is
more than a crack along the whole length of the fiddle; somebody has
been at it trying to mend it and made it positively worse. The edges
are quite apart. You can see through in some places, and in others there
is a lot of black hard glue."
The chief now has a look over the damaged part and then remarks, "The
thread of the pine happens to be very straight, and that will lessen
the trouble."
"Right, sir," is James's rejoinder, "not like that Genoese fiddle that
we had some time back with the very curly bit of pine that looked as
if the tree had been growing at the side of a rock and trying to look
round the corner. Fitting a straight piece along the centre of that
fiddle was no joke."
"Well, James, wash all that filthy dark glue away, and when quite dry,
run a thin chisel along each side of the hole, taking fine shavings
off until the upright walls have a sharp clean edge."
The washing out is at once commenced, and when finished, the upper table,
which of course had been removed some time back for ascertaining the
necessary amount of repairing, is placed apart for drying.
While this is in process, another violin is taken in hand. It has a
different kind of fracture, which it has been thought well for
appearance sake should be re-opened and made tidy, in fact, obscured
as much as present skill will allow of.
The fracture, although not one of very common occurrence, is of a kind
well known to professional repairers. It has been caused by a twist,
possibly while being handled by some clumsy or heavy-handed repairer
of olden times, and hastily filled with polluted glue, pressed together
and left to itself. It is not at right angles with the plane of the
instrument, but at a very acute one, very little evidence of it,
possibly none, being seen from the inside.
The first step taken by the repairer is the cleansing and removal of
all foreign particles likely to interfere with the adhesion of the
surfaces to be brought into contact. As there is present much grime,
and this not free from a suspicion of the presence of grease, James
has recourse to the bottle of benzine, into which he dips a small brush,
working it backwards and forwards, wiping it on an absorbent rag and
re-applying the liquid.
This does not take very long; the evaporation being rapid, the wood
is soon ready for the next stage, which is that of removing the dark
glue and other foul matters from the irregular surface.
This requires the application of warm water, by means of a stiffer
implement, used in fact as a small scrubbing brush; the moisture
between whiles is pressed in and out by the fingers with repeated
wipings and re-wettings.
After a while, being satisfied that the surfaces of the fracture are
clean to the desired degree, James allows the wood to partially dry.
In the meanwhile, he cuts a couple of pieces of wood to fit the back
and front of the table, so that with folded paper as a pad the parts
may be pressed together. All being in readiness, fresh strong glue is
inserted all along the opening, the repeated pressing being kept up
until he is sure that the glue has penetrated every part. The
superfluous glue oozing from the inside, after a slight squeeze along
the course, is lightly wiped off, the moulds applied back and front,
and the cramps fixed.
Other little odds and ends of repairing have occupied the attention
of the assistant during the time of waiting for the drying of the
before-mentioned upper table of the Stainer. This latter being of full
model, although not resembling the swollen or bolster-like form of many
imitations of the master, requires special attention with regard to
fitting in of the fresh wood or core.
The fresh wood must not be bent, or the matching of the grain with the
old material will be impossible, and the repair when completed will
be strikingly conspicuous. It must therefore be inserted in such a
manner that when pared down, the direction or flow of the grain will
exactly coincide in all respects with the rest of the table. The fact
must be recognised that although the threads may be perfectly straight
from end to end, yet they may rise higher at one end than the other
or not run level with the plane of the table. (Diagram 37.)
[Illustration: DIAGRAM 37, showing half length of core inserted before
being pared down, and with grain.]
This being duly calculated by James when cutting the piece that is to
be inserted as a core, the table with its opening extending nearly from
end to end is placed on an even surface facing upwards, as when on the
instrument. The core is then tried in the aperture. Perhaps a thin
shaving or two is found necessary, when finally it is sufficiently
exact. The next stage is that of getting ready the means of holding
or pressing all the parts together till dry after glueing. Taking a
flat piece of wood, perhaps the one just used, and placing the table
down, a pencil line is traced on the board round the violin table as
if for the purpose of copying the pattern. Two straight lines are now
ruled on each side touching the most projecting part of the upper and
lower curve (Diagram 38.)
[Illustration: DIAGRAM 38.]
On the outside of each line, but touching it, a strip of wood about
a quarter of an inch square is pegged or nailed down.
The table or plate when placed flat between these two small bars of
wood, is within an acute angle, and can be held tight or not according
to the degree of pressure with which it is pushed toward the smaller
end.
It will at once be perceptible that a trifling pressure forward of the
table towards the small end will result in the raising of the central
part and the widening of the opening instead of closing it.
There must be, therefore, some means adopted to counteract this, and
these are not difficult to fix upon. In lieu of pressing the table
forward with risk of damaging the part of the border that will come
in contact with the two fixed bars, it will be carefully tried as to
fitting the exact position it is to take when glued, that is,
sufficiently forward in the space between the bars that will only admit
the table with a slight rise in the arching, the joint or part holding
the core being in a more open condition as a consequence.
The exact place or point of contact is marked with a soft pencil or
piece of chalk on border and bar. The table being taken away, the parts
requiring it will be carefully glued.
Placed in position again, necessary means are taken that the surface
or plane on each side of the core are quite level with each other; if
they are not so, they will, after the necessary paring down of the core
has been completed, cause an ugly, uneven appearance. To prevent this,
therefore, the parts must be adjusted by the application of the fingers
on one side or the other, or gently tapped by a piece of wood
sufficiently heavy until exactness of level is made sure.
There is now necessary a weight to be applied along the whole length
of the junction for keeping all in position until the glue is quite
dry and hard.
Any kind of weight may be applied, the smaller and heavier in proportion
to size the better, as so much more can be seen when several are used
instead of one and that of larger dimensions.
These being placed in position, the table with its adjusted weights
is placed away for drying.
When time has elapsed for this to be satisfactorily accomplished the
table is taken in hand again, the weights lifted off and a slight tap
at the upper with a piece of soft wood will set it free.
The part of the core now rising above the upper or varnished side of
the table is pared down very gently, care being taken that the chisel
does not work into the varnish on either side of the core, and that
it is not driven against the grain, as by so doing the wood is nearly
certain to be torn instead of cleanly shaven.
A close examination of the surface is now made, if found quite
satisfactory, it may receive its final polishing by the application
of some very fine glass paper wrapped round a piece of cork, with a
little clear oil dabbed on it. This will give a dead smooth surface.
If the above directions are carried out with clean and sharp work, the
line along the table marked by the presence of the core will be so slight
as to appear little more than the thread of the wood, in the highest
class of repairing it will be nearly exact.
The part of the core projecting on the under side of the table is easily
disposed of by a gouge in the same manner as described for the action
of the chisel on the front.
The operations just described are of a kind that should not be
undertaken without considerable experience, as, indeed, ought to be
the case with many other repairs, the requisite dexterity of handling
not coming at once even with much natural ability.