This is a student 1/2 size cello with a buldging soundpost crack. I needed to press it together without taking the top off. Here are the steps.

1. Mark the location of the crack and protect the top.
2. Form the mold.
3. Glue the crack and protect the mold with celephone wrap.
4. Put a clamping bar across the back so your clamp is aghenst the bar. This way there is no pressure on the back.
5. Remove the clamp and the mold.

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Here is a violin with a minor sound post crack. It needed to be pressed in a little bit while glueing. I made a little mold so the shape would stay intact.

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A violin that had a bad sound post crack.

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Here is a viola where the top was cracked into two pieces, there was also a small crack from the f hole up near the bass bar. It must have taken quite an impact because the chinrest was cracked in half and the bridge was broken.

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Another sound post crack with lots of other cracks on the top. This instrument had lots of cracks a couple of them were only a couple millimeters apart. Also inscribed with pencil on he inside of the top is this:

Repaired By

Gaylord Marsh

March 1st 1911

Winsted Conn

A very old and

very good violin

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I spent a lot of time cleaning out the cracks and then sealing them. When I did the final french polishing the varnish must have previously had some dark dye rubbed on top because, unfortunatly the polishing pad picked up the dye and spread it around. Some of the areas with the freshish varnish picked up this color.

Here is a 3/4 with a very odd sound post crack.

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