This 150 year old old french scroll is badly "repaired" with lashings of PVA. And it broke again, of course. But to fix it properly with hide glue, I have to clean ALL the PVA out.

First I had to break the "repair" open. Very carefully.

ts very hot and humid here today, so here's my workshop for the afternoon:

The equipment

The PVA horror. You CANNOT fix musical instruments with PVA glue!

VERY fiddly job. Steam, vinegar, stiff brush, pick pick pick with sharp knife and tweezers and a LOT of patience. More like dentistry than luthiery. All done with a 10x magnifying visor, too.

Scroll side cleaned up

In this very odd photo of my leg and thumb, on the back of the scroll you can see a fracture where the pegbox is almost breaking through.

More rubbery goo.

Before and after.

Much better. You wouldn't think it, but probably an hour and a half's work all up. And this is just the preparation :-( A bit daunting to think that this all has to glue back together and be strong enough for a neck graft later.