With a break like this with plenty of surface area, I would just glue it without any additional supports. My glue of choice is hot hide glue, but there will be lots of opinions on that and many option…
I think that's a good move. One thing I might do to kick things of is to hit the area with some ultra thin master glue so it wicks under the area and prevents more chipping from potentially delaminate…
Hi guys, I finally managed to sort the problem out. Seens like was a simple issue that I cant see in that moment. I took the whole bridge apart and did a complete setup from scratch. I read somewhere…
This is precisely why Leo Fender developed the insideless guitar. A compromised neck block is super hard to come back from and when I see something like this, it leads me to believe that it's the tip…
Chris, can I add this for the council of elders show ? Also, we are going to have @member on pretty soon to talk about a job about this dramastic. Here's a link to the live show co…
I am not a finish guy at all, but this all seems like violin family stuff, have you asked a violin restorer?
PPrivate member
All my peers are in guitar repair, and you guys are as close I get to real looths ;)
I haven't spoken to anyone who specializes in Spirit and Oil Varnish interactions yet, but working to join a group of violin repair specialists to see if they have worked to resolve flaking like this in the past.
Anyone in the Looth Group specifically focused on traditional violin restoration?
PPrivate member
↪ Private memberThere's a million great people on instagram, Chris Jacoby is one. I know there are really good violin people on here as well.
PPrivate member
I knew Hans. At the time I met him (around 2016) he was spraying spirit varnish pre-made from International Violin. His mandolins ended up with slight checking a year or so later, but I had not seen any that looked like this. Do you know what year it was made?
PPrivate member
This specific one is from 2002, and it appears all the flaking is focues and the seams between binding and plates/side or edges of the f-holes.
PPrivate member
I have received some more info,
According to a previous owner, Jim Hilburn looked at it some years ago and he noted that Hans sprayed too much shellac on some mandos and it caused the flaking. So he was spraying heavy coats as early as 2002, and that is a likely cause.
With that info, it seems possible that wicking a solvent into those flaking seams could help rebond the spirit varnish?
That looks like delam. If it's oil varnish, there's really nothing doing with melting back in like with retarder and lacquer.
If it's spirit varnish, you might get somewhere with a dilute solution of shellac and alcohol. There is also shellac retarder - https://www.shellac.net/product116.html . Be sure to test with that on a quiet part on the instrument.
If it's oil varnish, you're hosed on remelting, but you might be able to make it look a little better by wicking in dilute shellac. It really depends on where the delam is. For whatever reason it seems to work better when it's separating at the wood rather than at the seal coat. Unfortunately if it's at the wood layer, it's probably going to rewet the color and look dark for a while.
PPrivate member
Ian, I believe Hans said he used "spirit violin varnish over oil violin varnish."
Again, well out of my depth when oil varnish is involved, but do you ever see delamination between the spirit varnish over oil varnish?
↪ Private memberI don't have a ton of experience with either. It's really up to what kinds of goos and ointments were added to the varnish and then which sealer/wash coat was applied and how it was prepped before first application.
Even if you used shellac as the sealer and a spirit varnish, I could see getting delam if you shot the spirit varnish in dry conditions etc. I don't see how you get it applying it with a pad or brush unless you had some really funky chemistry or an absurdly dry environment.
Anywho, should respond favorably to gooing it up with some solvents then.
Edit - It looks like it's mostly happening around the purfling. I would guess the purfling is plastic and didn't get enough tooth before application. Is it lifting anywhere besides where the purfling and the spruce meet that isn't a ding or scratch ?
PPrivate member
↪ Ian DavlinIan,
I'm not usually one to mess with old finishes - better left as they are.
But yes, all of the issues appear at the joints between plates/sides and the binding or at the edges of the F-holes. That's the primary reason I thought of the lacquer retarder trick from nitro repair, that it may be a lower risk way to secure any future flaking.
PPrivate member
If this were nitro lacquer, I might use N-Butyl (lacquer retarder) to consolidate little flaking like that.