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Spiral Peg Bushings
Spiral Peg Bushings
Click picture for more detail
Click picture for more detail
There are many scenarios during a restoration where it may be necessary to add material to the peg holes of the instrument's peg box. Sometimes, the pegs of an instrument are not correctly spaced or aligned, and the holes must be filled in and re-drilled. The act of turning the pegs over time may slowly enlarge the holes that the pegs sit in, eventually requiring the pegs to be replaced with larger pegs; if the holes get too large, however, it may be necessary to fill the holes and drill new ones. The act of truing up the peg hole taper over many years with reamers may also lead to this end, or if it is a particularly old and unrestored instrument where the taper of the pegs and holes does not match that of modern tools, and the holes must be made particularly large to match the new taper. Catastrophic damage and cracks to an instrument's pegbox may also be stabilized with a bushing in one or multiple peg holes, in order to help prevent the tapered peg acting as a wedge and driving the crack open again.
The material used to fill the peg hole, known as a bushing, is often a piece of boxwood dowel that is tapered along with the peg hole itself to form a tight fit, then glued in place, trimmed, varnished to match the pegbox, and re-drilled for a new peg hole. This process is labor intensive, and requires not inconsiderable skill to make the visible bushing "ring" left around the peg look natural and clean.
An alternative technique that may sometimes be employed when only a thin sliver of bushing is required is called a spiral bushing. This method is appropriate for instruments such as the one documented here, where the pegbox was broken off through the G peg, and re-enforcement was necessary around the peg hole but the peg hole itself was not too large out of taper, and I wanted to prevent the need for a new peg. My mentor taught me this trick when I was first learning from him, and it has taken me years to perfect (primarily because the opportunity for it arises fairly seldomly, but when it does, it is a monumental cost and time saver). The "spirals" are made from long, thin plane shavings of poplar, and are rolled out with glue in a spiral shape around a tapered mandrel which presses them into the peg hole, adding about .5mm around the peg hole itself. If carefully prepared and properly planned, and if the existing peg was of good taper, these can be installed so that virtually no adjustment is required when placing the original peg back in.
There are many scenarios during a restoration where it may be necessary to add material to the peg holes of the instrument's peg box. Sometimes, the pegs of an instrument are not correctly spaced or aligned, and the holes must be filled in and re-drilled. The act of turning the pegs over time may slowly enlarge the holes that the pegs sit in, eventually requiring the pegs to be replaced with larger pegs; if the holes get too large, however, it may be necessary to fill the holes and drill new ones. The act of truing up the peg hole taper over many years with reamers may also lead to this end, or if it is a particularly old and unrestored instrument where the taper of the pegs and holes does not match that of modern tools, and the holes must be made particularly large to match the new taper. Catastrophic damage and cracks to an instrument's pegbox may also be stabilized with a bushing in one or multiple peg holes, in order to help prevent the tapered peg acting as a wedge and driving the crack open again.
The material used to fill the peg hole, known as a bushing, is often a piece of boxwood dowel that is tapered along with the peg hole itself to form a tight fit, then glued in place, trimmed, varnished to match the pegbox, and re-drilled for a new peg hole. This process is labor intensive, and requires not inconsiderable skill to make the visible bushing "ring" left around the peg look natural and clean.
An alternative technique that may sometimes be employed when only a thin sliver of bushing is required is called a spiral bushing. This method is appropriate for instruments such as the one documented here, where the pegbox was broken off through the G peg, and re-enforcement was necessary around the peg hole but the peg hole itself was not too large out of taper, and I wanted to prevent the need for a new peg. My mentor taught me this trick when I was first learning from him, and it has taken me years to perfect (primarily because the opportunity for it arises fairly seldomly, but when it does, it is a monumental cost and time saver). The "spirals" are made from long, thin plane shavings of poplar, and are rolled out with glue in a spiral shape around a tapered mandrel which presses them into the peg hole, adding about .5mm around the peg hole itself. If carefully prepared and properly planned, and if the existing peg was of good taper, these can be installed so that virtually no adjustment is required when placing the original peg back in.