SamirCanada
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bridge repair advice needed
Hi fellow oud brothers.
I have an antique oud which the bridge is lifting on the bass side. How should I go about repairing it ideally without removing it. It seems the
treble side is holding fine but the hide glue is so old that it has crystalized and the bass side lifts about 1mm.
The strings are off now of course as soon as I noticed it.
Is there an efficient manner to fix it without removing it or i am better off taking it off and regluing it? I just don't want to affect the sound if
possible
Thanks
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Brian Prunka
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I imagine some of the luthiers will have suggestions, but here's my amateur guess: if you have some hot hide glue, you could use a syringe to get it
under the bridge, then clamp it right away. The old hide glue should remelt with the hot glue.
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SamirCanada
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thanks Brian.
I was thinking of that too. you can dump the filled siringe in boiled water for a bit to keep the glue runny.
I dont know where to find the siring and that kind of long needle though... online?
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Brian Prunka
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I got one a while ago, but don't remember where I got it. I think I just used a regular syringe from the drug store.
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teslim
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You can get syringes specially for that purpose from Steward -Macdonald or any other luthier supply place--i think the pharmacuitacal kind would clog
up too fast to be effective....they are very handy to have around the shop and are fairly inexpensive...
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jdowning
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Syringes suitable for glue application can also be found in those refill kits for inkjet printers. However, I doubt if they would be any good for
applying hot hide glue of suitable strength for gluing a bridge that will gel very quickly. In any case just squirting glue into the gap will likely
not work as the old crusted hide glue will prevent proper closure of the joint faces.
To do a proper, secure job the bridge should be removed, refitted and re-glued with a high bloom strength hot hide glue. Richard Hankey describes the
procedure in "How to glue an oud bridge?" posted on this forum back in 2006.
All of the old deteriorated glue must be removed and the joint made a perfect fit for maximum strength. No need for clamps - the bridge being held in
position with finger pressure for a few minutes until the glue gels and then set aside for 24 hours, Glue shrinkage as the glue cures and dries will
pull the joint together even tighter. One advantage of traditional hot hide glue!
Lee Valley sell a high bloom strength hide glue.
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bulerias1981
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I think the answer really depends on the current condition of the issue and the style of bridge that it is. I've done both methods, where I remove the
bridge (when its very bad and I can see the hyde glue fail) and I've done it where I use a palette knife to insert the glue into the gap. The first
option doesn't need much explanation but I can elaborate on the second.
Depending on the style of bridge and if there is a rosette or not.. you can simply insert the glue into the gap using a palette knife and clamp it.
On nahat style bridges its harder to clamp do to the small base of the bridge, but still not impossible. You can get a small piece of wood slightly
smaller than the platform of the bridge and place it next to the base and the clamp would work fine. If there is a bone rosette and you don't want to
risk removing it here is another alternative. You can leave the strings on to where the bridge is being lifted away from the face and the gap is at
its fullest. With the knife, syringe or whatever you place the glue into the gap, you then take the tension off the strings. The bridge would come
down a little.. you can then clamp a long piece of wood to go from the nut to the bridge and use some wedges to force the bridge down.
Another method is to route some heavy strings on the side with the gap around the back of the bowl and into the pegs in which the pegs will provide
clamping force.
I have done all these methods successfully. I believe the best option is to remove the bridge and clean up the old glue. But you run into the
possibility of opening a can of worms.. either damaging the bridge or the soundboard area where the bridge is joined to, possibly taking chunks of
spruce with it or other issues.
Also I rarely use hyde glue for the bridge anymore. Now I use regular yellow wood glue or epoxy if needed.
If you can provide some photos that would be great. Thanks.
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oudmaker
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Best option is the last option Bulerias
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