Brad Dorsey

When using this method, how do you separate the neck from the button?

There's no need to scrap it. Here's an old discussing showing how someone else fixed the same error (not necessarily the best way to fix it): https://maestronet.com/forum/index.php?/topic/313317-sawed-off-back-button/

Personal message sent.

I see this "gap" fairly often on nickel ferrules. It's not actually a gap, it's just a visible joint. If it were actually a gap, the ferrule would fall apart. The joints are much less likely to be visible on silver ferrules. Perhaps this is because of the nature of the materials; i.e., the solder used with nickel is visually distinct from the nickel itself, while silver and silver solder are very similar in appearance. Or perhaps it's because silversmiths work more carefully than nickelsmiths. I have no experience in soldering nickel.

I mainly do New Hampshire makers. Ron left the violin business about 10 years ago. Skinner had an auction where about half the lots were stuff he had collected. At one time he looked into moving to Hawaii, but I don't know if he did.

I just encountered this problem last week. I had to remove a screwed-on underslide to press the kinks out of it. The screws still had slots, but the threads were seized so tight with rust that they were impossible to turn. I milled the screws out using an end mill driven by a milling machine. (This cannot be done with a drill bit and a drill press.) This left over-size screw holes that I had to fill, and I had to replace the screws, of course. (You won't find screws that small at the hardware store.) Everything came out well.

They are screws. Sometimes underslide screws don't get screwed in flush, so the heads are filed flush. It is common to see screw heads that have been filed so that the slots are shallow. This is the first time I've seen them filed so much that the slots are completely gone.

Two other possible causes for a screw that does not turn easily: 1. The screw threads are clogged with old congealed lubricant. The solution is to clean the threads. I remove the frog from the stick, put a few drops of citrus-based cleaner on the threads, run the screw through the eyelet several times and wipe the screw with a bit of paper towel. I then lubricate the screw with paraffin wax; Martin's candle suggestion is fine. 2. If the screw is harder to turn at of the frog's travel than the other, the screw holes in the stick are mis-aligned or worn. Re-aligning the holes will probably require bushing them.

Could you explain better? A normal bow does not have a metal bushing at the end.

It looks like an inexpensive modern Chinese bow to me. I have not seen that brand.

I have experienced the same thing on the two or three occasions that I set up violins to be played left handed. After doing one, my next task was rehairing a bow, and it seemed that the bow was somehow left handed. After the rehair I drove a car and had an odd sensation that I was driving on the wrong side of the road. Setting up a violin to be played left handed somehow reverses some brain circuitry, and it takes a while for the effect to dissipate.

OK, you folks have convinced me. I will glue tops to blocks good and tight. Have fun getting them off.

Interesting question. I'll expand it by asking if we need glue anywhere between the top and the upper block?

How?

One might be worth $5 to $10 as a curiosity or novelty to someone who wants one. Their presence or absence does not affect the value of a violin, because someone who wants one can easily put it on and somebody who doesn't can easily take it off