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which would be best glue to use


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Hi all. I'm planning to put new bellows papers on a Lachenalia 20 key Anglo and I'm wondering if some of the experienced restorers here could advise which would be best glue to use.   I'm thinking likely candidates would be PVA craft glue, wallpaper glue or even simple flour and water glue. I'm aware that repairs to vintage instruments should ideally be reversible.  Can anybody advise which of these glues is best for the job, or if there is a better alternative.  Thanks in advance.

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There have been numerous threads on glue here over the years. An example of an early one is here. (Worth rereading to recall how generous with advice the late Rich Morse was, and for a pretty good string of jokes and puns.) From this and others I got the idea to try gum arabic (gum glue or water soluble school glue). I glued papers on my Morse about 15 years ago and they are still fine (like the day I took that photo; mind you, I don't let the instrument get damp).

 

Ken

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Good advice above.  

I would avoid pea glue because in future someone may want to replace the papers again and pva will make them harder to remove.

 

Also - you should remove the old papers first.

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We use PVA. As Theo said, remove old papers first. With PVA you can tear off old papers which will usually  leave a thin layer of paper still attached which you can glue directly on top of. You also can use a wet rag to loosen up any lumps that you can later ‘roll’ off.  If this is the second repapering, it’s likely the entire bellows would need to be replaced before anyone would need to replace these papers again. Usually other parts of the bellows have issues before the papers do - however, older instruments would have used paper (and cards) that were not acid free so problems with these materials can occur before issues with the leather if the instrument was otherwise cared for (not dried out, not played with the ribs section on the knees, etc). 

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