edi malinaric

Hi Fiddlecollector - brilliant! - and here's me with both the pliers and lazy tong type pop riverters sitting on the shelf. Just itching in excitement to try this out. While I wait I'll make a set of copper or brass jaws for the pliers. Thank you - edi

Hi M Alpert - when luck runs with you go and buy a lottery ticket. You have the right method - just exchange the soldering iron with a gas flame. As a safety measure wrap the button in a wet cloth. Good Luck edi

Hi JacksonMaberry - feels good to be back Cape Town? Winter here has been a bit fierce. Gales aplenty - a few roof tiles decided to attempt the trip to Rio de Janiero. The glass panel of the bedroom sliding door to the balcony got sucked out at 10h00 and what with the occasional rain squall and having to run down to local hardware store for some lag screws, making a sealing panel from the side of a packing crate. scratching around for a batten or three, cutting and fitting same, taping the gaps to keep wind-driven rain out, Rose and I collapsed into bed at 02h00 in the morning! All dams overflowing. Higher mountain peaks are snow capped (a bit unusual) Cape of Good Hope - or The Cape of Storms???? Looking forward to some of that global warming they keep promising. cheers edi

Hi Martin - please show more sympathy. My M-F cello just shed a tear. cheers edi

Hi Fiddlebasher - I was taught to glue a bit of paper between the mould and block. Saves the mould. cheers edi

Hi Brad - Dammit - a word to the wise - avoid strokes, retirement and old age! Yes - the depth of hole is measured from the end of the stick, down the screw-hole, until you hit the broken end of the screw. The odds are that the screw broke very close to the eyelet. Yes - the drill guide is inserted into the end of the stick. The reason for trimming the guide 1mm short is to ensure adequate chip clearance and reduce the chance of breaking the drill. Ditto "peck" drilling and drilling using a hand drill. Worn holes and dubious concentricity are a given. The use of a drilling guide gives you a fighting chance to keep the drill more or less lined up with the screw. - use of shavings between the drill guide and worn hole will help with centreing - wrapping the end of stick/drill guide with a few layers of masking tape and a small jubilee clamp will keep things quiet - as will a few layers of masking tape to immobilise the frog to the stick. cheers edi

Hello M Alpert - my most tricky bow "resurrection" was after someone tried to drill out the broken screw. The drill slipped to side and drilled alongside the screw. While rebuilding the stick around a Tufnol bushing I gave some thought how I might have carried out work. 1.0 Drill Guide - chuck a piece of 6mm dia. steel rod in a lathe - protrusion - Depth of hole + 10mm -face end and centre drill - drill a 1mm dia. hole down its centre. Depth of hole + 10mm - turn the OD down to a slip-fit into the stick. Length 1mm less than the depth of the hole. - part off at Depth of hole + 10mm 2.0 Attack - clamp stick vertically -"peck" drill a 1mm hole for 4-6mm using a hand drill and patience - you now have a pilot hole - measure the diameter of the broken screw and buy a drill about 0.2 mm larger in dia. - drill away the screw and the threads of the brass eyelet Good Luck - edi

Hi Carl1961 - ouch? Here in Cape Town we have a gifted viola-maker, Vivienne Cowley. My elder brother's violin wasn't able to withstand the attentions of his very young grandson and "developed" a hole through the lower rib. I asked Vivienne to do the repair. Golden Rule - never do repairs for family!. Vivienne did a very nice patch-of-rib and her spirit varnish produced perfectly matching "tiger stripes" that moved the repair into invisibility. (One day I'll ask her if she ever studied at Hogwarts) Elder bro seemed happy. Cheers edi

hello carl1961 Is there a convention for viewing graduation pics? In the pic of the front plate, the solid bass bar suggests that one is viewing the plate from the inside. For the back plate.....? Maybe if one shows the position of the sound post? How did you repair the scroll cracks? cheers edi

Nice touch - the edelweiss carved into the pegs. I might try carving a Protea. cheers edi

Hi Rekotch - You sound like a nice sane sort of guy - asking reasonable questions. Only, if you have been following this forum for even a short period of time, you surely must have realised that dabbling with luthiery is an early sign of impending insanity - and incurable to boot! The "dumpster" brigade are not being unkind, not really, their addiction has already reached maybe Stage 7. Recognising this, you might think that they are now trying to discourage others following them down that slippery path. Don't be fooled! They are actually hoping to discourage you from beating them to the next dumpster, auction, flea market, deceased estate etc. It's best to Ignore them - or set your alarm clock a hour earlier and beat them at their own game. :-) For you? There's no hope. Welcome - edi.

Hi Dave - interesting how these threads stir the memory. We were on a day-long slog up a river to attack some vertical rock faces when I was subjected to an attack of Montezuma's revenge. Initially slightly embarrassing - however after using up all my small stock of paper serviettes (far superior to toilet paper), then every one else's supply, then all the brown paper packets....I finally began making use of rounded river stones! I soon became quite skilled at recognising the superior article. Even gave thought to slipping one into my pack - infinitely re-usable! Rejected the idea on the grounds that paper was lighter and en-route rivers uncommon. We never arrived at the base of the mountain - I was one of two leaders and the party unanimously decided not to take the risk of following me up a rock face! Possible soiled hand-holds and the like. Boy did they rub it in! A surprisingly weakened Edi made it back to the farm where we had parked the car while his pack followed precariously balanced on top of a friend's pack. Mmmm - the colour changed from medium brown to a brownish-yellow - maybe you have a point. cheers edi

Hi JGough - interesting! Assuming that the bridge and nut are parallel, I would agree with your luthier. What strings does the violin have and what is their approximate age? While we are looking at things could you measure the height of the strings from the fingerboard i) at the nut and ii) at the end of the f/b? (Measure to the underside of the strings) cheers edi

Hi Jim - and that's more true than you could ever imagine. Thanks edi

Hi Guy - Last companion was a wolf-dog. Mother was a Siberian wolf. Father was a Grey Wolf/Belgian Shepherd cross. Done my nut but can't make him fit any instrument. He was complete in himself. cheers edi