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Regulars
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Sigh. Third time's a charm, right?
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DAMN, that thing is awesome and a beauty to behold. I bet you tighten up those strings (or some new ones) and lay into it, you'll be surprised how great it sounds.
The bridge appears to be tilted a little too much, should be straight up & down on there and of course, dust it off before appearing in public. LOL
Nice post of the pics. Thanks
"If you practice with your hands you must practice all day. Practice with your mind and you can accomplish the same amount in minutes." Nathan Milstein
It's a beautiful violin, the back seems to be bird eye maple. I can't see any cracks from your pictures but you could check by shining lights into f holes in the dark. It seems like you will need a chin rest, and the violin needs to be clean up a little. The other thing is, your grandpa had changed the pegs into a mechanic one like those for guitar. When he put those in, he might have to drill the peg holes bigger so i don't know if you could put regular pegs back on (this remind me of CatMcCalls new project with enlarged peg holes, same thing might have been done to her violin). the bow probably needs to be rehaired and you will need new strings.
You have a great violin to start with, enjoy playing!
Mmmmmmm
Metal pegs
Nice looking violin. I'd like to hear it 
=) The bow seems much better than those that i have (from my acoustic and E-violin)... It's easy to put a new strings set and a chin-rest aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnddddddddddd ->
What a treasure! Thanks for posting the pics. When you're ready, you know we want to hear it. 
Can't wait to hear it in action. I really don't think the metal pegs would make any difference in sound, would these? (question for more experienced players)
Anyhow, it is a beauty.
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Yes, it's a good looking instrument.
I've heard mechanical pegs make changing the strings a bit more difficult but I don't really know. All I know is that they'd be perfect on a steampunk-inspired violin. (No, I don't have plans to make a steampunk violin in the future when I have a job and money. Why do you ask? )
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Grandma says that Grandpa was adamant about getting the mechanical pegs. I am guessing bumping around on country dirt roads in a model A had a lot to do with it. He played dances all over the countryside, and never let any grass grow under his wheels! I am guessing it took less tuning with the metal pegs?
I am waiting for my daughters cheap 1/2 size violin to arrive so I can borrow her rosin. Hopefully this weekend we can get started on our fiddlin' fun together!
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Photo update, now that I am getting better about uploading them 
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The last picture is the old learn-to-play booklet that was in the case, dated 1936 I think. The pegs are stuck, and you can see where one of the grips totally crumbled away on the right side when I tried to turn it. 
Sooooo, my new project is doing something about it. THEN hopefully my next project will be learning to play! 
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Is it possible to adjust the tension on those tuners. Maybe if you loosen a screw or something. Also, did you try machine oil or similar?
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Hmm yeah, it almost looks like there is a screw in the end of the cog. They might be a kind of tensioner or locking mechanism.
Can you get WD40 in the US. It's a lubricant/releasing spray
I am amazed at how old people of my age are.....
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Terry said
Hmm yeah, it almost looks like there is a screw in the end of the cog. They might be a kind of tensioner or locking mechanism.
Can you get WD40 in the US. It's a lubricant/releasing spray
Oh, yes. WD40 is second only to duct tape in home repair usefulness. As the old saying goes, "If it's moving and it shouldn't be, use duct tape. If it isn't moving and it should be, use WD40."
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Yeah - don't use WD40 anywhere near that fiddle! It's a very bad idea. Really. Use sewing machine oil, or better still, Tri-Flow. Both will wipe off easier and not damage the varnish.
WD40 is actually a bad idea for many of the applications we tend to use it for as it leaves residue that can do a lot of damage to things like sewing machines. Srsly.
Violin machine heads are available online and it would be a pretty simple operation to replace them. If the tuning pegs are crumbling, chances are the whole thing has seized up and will continue to deteriorate.
Mary in Springfield, Oregon http://www.thefiddleandbanjopr.....dpress.com
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Totally off topic, but my Grandma swears daily applications of WD-40 eased her arthritis in her knee, staving off the need for surgery until she was about 85 or so.
I tend to think it was the massaging action, but who am I to contradict Grandma?
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dionysia said
Totally off topic, but my Grandma swears daily applications of WD-40 eased her arthritis in her knee, staving off the need for surgery until she was about 85 or so.
I tend to think it was the massaging action, but who am I to contradict Grandma?
Yikes! Not likely, but who can refute Folk Cures? 
Can't stand the stuff myself, the smell makes my head ache.
Mary in Springfield, Oregon http://www.thefiddleandbanjopr.....dpress.com
That's cool that you got your grandfathers fiddle. One of the fiddles that I have was also my grandfathers. I was given to me by my dad before he passed. It hadn't been played in many years. I enjoy playing it. It makes me feel a little more connected to them.
http://dmiemail.stewmac.com/t/.....88969/718/
http://dmiemail.stewmac.com/t/.....88845/667/
When plastic tuner knobs get really old, they eventually rot away. This happened to some tuners my friend Spencer Bohren sent me. One set was from his old Supro lap steel (I worked on that guitar in Trade Secrets #150). The other set dated all the way back to 1897, on Spencer’s Bruno parlor guitar. (Those 19th-Century knobs were probably made of celluloid.)  |
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Brown, crumbly trouble. These rotted old buttons are starting to crack right off their shafts. Spencer asked me if I could replace them, and doing the job right involved a neat drilling trick I’d like to show you. I made a short video showing how I did this very common job. On the video, I worked on both sets of tuners; here I’m working on the Supro tuners only. |
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The easy way: Our vintage 3-on-a-plate tuners are a direct replacement. They’re an exact fit, and they work better than the originals did when new. But Spencer wanted to keep the old vintage tuners working, and I like a challenge, so I agreed to do this the hard way. Here we go... |
 Vintage-style 3-on-Plate Tuners |
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Bite off the old: Fret cutters snip away the knobs, neat and clean. When you get close to the shaft, “nibble” until the last of the plastic comes free. Clean up the exposed shafts with a wire brush, then degrease them with naphtha. |
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Just like the old Kluson knobs, our vintage replacement knobs have a rectangular hole. The tuner shaft is heated and pressed into this hole, melting its way in. The shaft is round, with a spear-shaped end. Fitting that round shaft into a slot-shaped hole is mighty tight, so I prefer to alter the hole for a better fit. I drill a round hole in the center of the rectangle. The shaft measures approximately .136"; I drill a smaller hole (.104") using a #37 drill-bit. The knobs go on easier, and since the hole is smaller than the shaft it’s still a snug fit. But it’s tricky. |
 Vintage-style Tuner Knobs |
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Drilling a hole exactly in the center of a rectangle is hard to do without this tip: a “centering stick” for positioning the knob exactly right below my drill press chuck. I slightly flattened one end of a length of 1/8" diameter hollow brass tubing by squeezing it in my nut and saddle vise. I filled the end with hot solder, and filed it until it fit the rectangular shape of the hole. I chucked this tube, with the knob on it, into my drill press. I lowered the knob into the nut/saddle vise and gripped it there, then lifted the drill chuck. This pulled the tube out, leaving the knob perfectly located for drilling. I put a drill into the chuck, and drilled the hole exactly on center. A piece of masking tape served as a depth stop marker.
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The hole is right on dead center. This knob will fit the shaft perfectly. I drilled six more knobs with this setup; that gave me one extra in case I mess up when installing them on the shafts. |
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Heat from a soldering gun. I heat the shaft with a Weller soldering iron. I've modified the gun’s tip by cutting its copper loop. The gun won’t heat unless this tip’s circuit is intact; when the two cut ends touch the shaft, the circuit is completed and the metal gets hot quickly. You can also use a regular soldering iron for heat, as long as it’s at least 30 watts. When the metal's hot, start the knob onto it by hand (be careful, I should’ve been wearing gloves). Then quickly get it into the vise and use it to squeeze the knob on. I have a scrap of aluminum channel in the vise to focus the pressure on the end of the shaft, sparing the sheet metal gear housing. You’ll feel the pressure give all of a sudden, as the knob slides home. |
 StewMac Super Glue |
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A little insurance. Once the knobs are on, I run water-thin #10 super glue down the shaft to fill any gaps and make the joint even stronger. I use a pipette, but for better reach and a lighter flow of glue, I cut the pipette’s tip off and replace it with a whip tip. |
 Pipettes Whip Tips |
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It’s surprising how sometimes a set of old Klusons will be shiny and clean even though the knobs are so rotten. With the new knobs, these old tuners (on the left) look almost like the new ones on the right. I’ve sent the re-knobbed old tuners back to my friend Spencer, and he’s happy! | |||||
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Thanks for the post Kevin.
I took the advice offered by Cat and others and used some sewing machine oil on my tuners. They are now unfrozen 
but the strings won't tune up. I have two pegs that need new knobs, and I am going to buy new strings. THEN I hope to be off and running with the learning to play.
I can get the G string to hit the note and stay there for a few minutes. The other strings are pretty much hopeless, as they won't hit the note and stay there long enough to put a bow to it.
Sooo, off to the Fiddlershop I go!
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