Brad Dorsey

I have always thought that removing the tarnish and making the silver shiny would make a bow more attractive and more sale-able. In my experience, other dealers are able to distinguish between untarnished silver and untarnished nickel, and players want bows that play well and look attractive. So, I see no reason not to remove the tarnish from silver bow fittings. I don't mean to say that you're wrong; I'm just explaining what I think.

Would you offer a bow for sale to players with black tarnish?

You needn't worry about hiding the wear with varnish touch-up, because it will be hidden by the chin rest.

It looks to me like it could be silver mounted, but with a nickel frog ring. I don't think I have seen one like this, but I occasionally see the reverse -- nickel mounted with silver frog rings.

I am trying to imagine what sort of system would be created and how it would work. I’m not coming up with anything.

Because they go so abruptly from gaping wide open to nothing, these don’t look like cracks to me. They look more like gouges. I can’t imagine what would have caused them. They look alarmingly wide and deep, but I’m not sure what should be done about them.

You also forgot the fourth choice: replace the bow. If it's an inexpensive bow, this might be the most sensible thing to do. If it's a bow of any value, I think you should go with the third choice. There are too many things that need to fit correctly (eyelet to screw, eyelet to stick, screw to button, screw to stick, button to stick) for this to be a do-it-yourself project. A professional will have the right parts, or know where to get the right parts, and he or she will know how to fit them to your friend's bow. If I were presented with this bow, I would start with an eyelet that has an untapped (i.e., unthreaded) hole, see if one of my taps matched the thread of the screw and tap the eyelet hole to accept the screw. If I didn't have the correct tap, I could search my collection of used eyelets for one in good condition whose hole thread matched the screw thread. If I couldn't find a usable eyelet, I would replace the screw and eyelet. This might require filing the screw tang to fit into the button, or filing some excess threads from the screw, or drilling the screw holes in the stick bigger, or bushing the holes smaller. And any eyelet I wanted to use might need to be filed to fit the stick's eyelet mortise, and it might require drilling the frog's eyelet hole bigger or bushing the hole smaller. Replacing an eyelet is not as simple as one might think.

Leon Pique was not a bow maker. It was a trade name used on German bows of varying quality imported into the United States. I don't remember who used it.

How do they sound?

I don’t think so, because hot water applied carefully, as with a brush, cools off too quickly for the heat to accomplish anything more the room temperature water would. In order for hot water to retain heat long enough for the heat to be helpful, the crack (or whatever) would need to be flooded with an amount of water that would be tantamount to immersion.

The word "regraduated" on the label means that Tyler did not make the violin. Instead, he regraduated it, which means that he took the top of the violin and he carved the parts thinner.

Yes. So, what is a good heat source? One that is convenient to use, that does not risk scorching the wood or varnish, that can be concentrated where it is need, and that does not dry out the moisture that also helps open the crack/joint? It seems to me that a little steam nozzle would be best. So, what is a convenient way to rig a little steam nozzle?

I have often been able to undo things glued (with unmentionable glues) with water and patience. Water does not dissolve white or yellow glues, but it does soften them. Brush some water on the glue and keep it wet. If you are dealing with the type of glue that this works on, after 5 to 10 minutes the glue will turn from translucent to an opaque white or yellow, and it will begin to soften. As it softens, scrape it off, but don't scrape off any wood. Scraping off softened glue will uncover unsoftened glue underneath. Keep wetting the glue and scraping it off as it softens. If you are dealing with a crack in a top, remove the top before starting. This will enable you to work on both sides at once. You may reach a point where you cannot get out any more glue because it's inaccessible in the crack. Try digging the softened glue out of the crack with finely pointed metal pick. Keep wetting the glue and flexing the crack. Try driving a very thin blade through the glue then running it along the length of the crack. With luck, the crack will eventually open. When it is open, continue wetting, flexing and scraping to get all the glue out of the crack. Some people on this forum recommend vinegar, but I have never tried it. People who use white/yellow glue on violins are usually incompetent in ways that can often work in our favor. The repairs are usually poorly done, with cracks glued out of alignment and using an excess of glue. These faults make it easier to undo the bad repairs.

What do you see that suggests this?

The used files you got are probably pretty dull. You won’t believe how much better a sharp file works until you try one. New files are expensive, and, cheapskate that I am, I dislike spending what they cost for what appears to be simply a crude hunk of metal. But a sharp file makes a huge difference.