A beautiful mandolin from 1865 arrives in my workshop and needs to be restored. The back is cracked in several places, and there are pieces missing from the binding.
A very beautiful instrument, built in the traditional manner. Something that always makes my builder's heart beat faster.
The cracks on the back were cleanly split along the grain, making them relatively easy to repair with Titebond, the glue I always use for building my instruments. In the photo below, you can see that the cracks have been beautifully restored.
For the binding, I first had to figure out which wood was used. It turned out to be ebony and maple. I recreated the missing pieces and put them back into the binding. Traditional instruments were polished with shellac. I touched up the instrument with shellac, and the result is a beautiful instrument that has been restored to its original condition.
Ramon Riemersma
Luthier
