[CAUT] vellum hinges (was Re: Baldwin D bridge)

[Fred Sturm]

On Nov 17, 2010, at 5:04 PM, Edward Sambell wrote:

> Vellum and parchment are more or less interchangeable terms, vellum  
> being the preferred term for the best quality. The vellum would last  
> for decades, then suddenly break. How would one repair this? We did  
> know, but I will let everyone see if they can propound solutions,  
> then I will tell.


Back to this question, Montal had a couple answers from his time. As  
he describes it, the vellum hinges were glued on one side to a rail,  
which had a wooden strip screwed over the vellum hinges. So the first  
step was to unscrew that wooden strip and reveal one half of the  
broken hinge, and remove it with a chisel or the like. The other end  
was attached to the moving part. In one case, the hammer of the little  
square pianos of the time, it would be held between the hammer shank  
proper (rectangular in cross section, laid long end horizontally) and  
another piece of wood that was glued so as to pinch the vellum. So you  
undid the glue joint, preferably using heat, possibly dipping it in  
boiling water, and scraped or cut away the old material. Then cut a  
piece of vellum to size (a little long), glue it to the shank and the  
other piece, and glue the other piece to the shank, wrap with thread  
and let that set. Then trim away the thread and glue the other end to  
the rail, trimming the vellum to length as needed, and check to see  
that the hammer lined up with the string. Adjust as needed.
	The other kind had the same rail, but the other end of the vellum was  
inserted and glued into a slot. So the difference was that you sawed  
the vellum out of the slot, then cut a new piece about an inch wider  
than needed, so as to be able to pull it into the slot holding it on  
both sides with your fingers. Glue, and work it in, let set, trim,  
glue to the rail.
	So what is the Sambell method?
Regards,
Fred Sturm
fssturm at unm.edu
"I am only interested in music that is better than it can be played."  
Schnabel

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