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Post by bullpuppy on Apr 3, 2016 0:12:50 GMT
hi, I am a luthier and I have an inexpensive Pipa and I like to remove the top non-destructively to learn how it is constructed and functions. Are there any makers on the forum that can give me some tips. Any help would be most appreciated. Tim Attachments:
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Post by sanmenxia on Apr 18, 2016 16:20:08 GMT
This video shows pipas being made: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPKXmnsWdSkThe video shows quite a lot of the construction of a pipa, it even show measurements. At about 12 min, you can see the top being glued on. I guess the glue is normal white pva woodworking glue. It doesn't look like it's hide glue, which is used on violins etc so that joints can be taken apart. So I would think it's going to be difficult to remove the top without damaging it. I guess they are not making the pipa so that it's expected that the top will be removed for repairs. I've read that heat like from a heat gun will soften pva glue, but I haven't tried it.
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Post by Dorian Gray on May 10, 2016 14:08:09 GMT
Hi! I'm violinmaker and also do a lot of repair on chinese stringed instruments here. I think that remove the top (as in every instrument) is a really big deal. In this case, you can´t know how it´s glued, but we can assume it was probably just PVA glue as Sanmenxia said. Acetone softens PVA and evaporates quickly, i´m afraid that the softwood of the top may warp or something with the heat necessary to soften the glue. Then, to successfully remove the top, you will need a flexible seam opening knife, so you can put it on the side, then it should be able to bent and get inside... once you did that it will be very straightforward. Maybe it the frets are separated from the neck, you can remove the frets near to the top (or all the piece if the frets are just one thing), then reach the top by that side, so if you make any dent or something it will be not so visible. In some inexpensive instrumentes frets and neck are just one thing.... thats the difficult with inexpensive instrumentes, they are anything but standard. Some time ago i had a lot of trouble with a Ruan, its neck was tilted to one side, but can't be removed, because it had screws put by the inside of the upper block... so remove all the top just to fix the tilted neck... it was tricky. At last i just broke the base of the neck and made a better fitting one.
Sorry that I can't be more helpful. But if you have any question or want to share your work on this, please contact me!!
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