RichJ - Posted - 03/03/2022:  07:23:53

In refurbishing a couple of old bows the ivory (more likely plastic) tip came off one bow. The mother of pearl portion of the frog slides also separated from the lower ebony portion of the slide on both bows. I was thinking of using hide glue to repair these areas, then got to wondering if something more modern would be more effective?

Fiddlemaker5224 - Posted - 03/03/2022:  07:29:48

Hey Rich, the hide glue is best to use as it will allow for repairs later on. Any other glue may make the parts hard to disassemble. The tip can be replaced, you can find the parts needed at most luthier suppliers.

RichJ - Posted - 03/03/2022:  08:33:49

quote:

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Originally posted by Fiddlemaker5224

Hey Rich, the hide glue is best to use as it will allow for repairs later on. Any other glue may make the parts hard to disassemble. The tip can be replaced, you can find the parts needed at most luthier suppliers.

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Thanks Carl - Understand what you are saying about hide glue for re-glueing wood to wood parts of the violin body. The parts I mentioned above are rarely if ever separated so I was thinking about a more permanent kind of bonding in areas like that. 

The Violin Beautiful - Posted - 03/03/2022:  08:55:55

CA glue is much more effective and is commonly used for that kind of repair (as well as many other bow repairs). It’s reversible if ever it needs to be taken out. Hide glue is an excellent glue for many things, and it can work on bows (in the past it was more commonly used).

A colleague of mine used to use marine epoxy for tips. It is very strong and gets a good result, but it’s a lot harder to get off and the drying time is prohibitively long. I think the only thing I’d use it for would be filling in damage to the thumb projection, although I’m more inclined to use pernambuco instead. CA is so much easier to work with and already has a good track record among bow restorers and repairmen.

RichJ - Posted - 03/03/2022:  09:32:44

quote:

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Originally posted by The Violin Beautiful

CA glue is much more effective and is commonly used for that kind of repair (as well as many other bow repairs). It’s reversible if ever it needs to be taken out. Hide glue is an excellent glue for many things, and it can work on bows (in the past it was more commonly used).

Thanks Rich - When you say CA glue I assume you are referring to cyanoacrylate glue and which I usually think of a "superglue". I have some tubes of "Superglue". The stuff it's very watery and tends to run all over. Any other brand you might suggest that lends itself better to luthier work? BTW do you know the trick of adding baking soda to superglue? It results in instant, rock like hardness of the stuff,  great for filling voids in almost anything including metal. Doubt any of that would have use in luthery. 

DougD - Posted - 03/03/2022:  10:10:25

Richj - You can get superglue gel, which is less messy to work with. Ther are a lot of other "modern" glues that would probably work, but I don't know how easy they are to get apart if needed. As Rich said, CA glue already has a good track record for this.