Cello Repair

| posted in: setup 


At my lesson this afternoon David was able to repair my cello. The repair was straight forward and only took a few minutes to complete. Using a small putty knife he first cleaned out the little bits of dried glue from the separation. Next he dipped the knife into some liquified hide glue - a form of animal glue - and dribbled it bit by bit onto the opening. Once the entire opening was coated he used three small clamps to close the gap.

After transporting the cello home wrapped in a blanket, as it can’t fit in a case with three clamps affixed to its lower bout, I stood it in its usual corner until it was time to practice. David said that by 9 or 10 this evening I could remove the clamps and all would be okay.

Here is a picture of the cello with clamps in place.

Cello clamped

And here’s one of the newly repaired seam.

Cello repaired

For all of the apparent fragility of a cello, I am continually surprised at how sturdy it is. Mine was standing upside down on its scroll while the glue was applied. And after removing the clamps tonight I can’t tell where the split started and ended. My cello is whole once again.

Author's profile picture

Mark H. Nichols

I am a husband, cellist, code prole, nerd, technologist, and all around good guy living and working in fly-over country. You should follow me on Mastodon.