TRIANGLE

REPAIRING A BROKEN TORTOISE SHELL TONGUE

Author: Sebastian Schwelm

TECHNIQUE OVERVIEW

The tongue is the thin section of material protruding out from the frog body at the end of the hair channel. Hidden
and protected by the metal ferrule, the tongue is one of the more delicate parts on the bow. Abrupt impact to the
ferrule can cause a break quite easily. A break can also occur during the rehair process when removing the ferrule if
a spread wedge is fit too tightly or glued in. To see steps for this same repair for an ebony frog, please see technique
article “Replacing a Broken Tongue” which takes a different approach - the repair detailed below is specific to bow
frogs made of tortoise shell or synthetic tortoise shell.

TECHNIQUE INTRODUCTION

Historically the tongue repair in a tortoise shell frog has been done with ebony or horn, which can leave a dark and
visible center to the frog. Although these materials can provide a structurally stable result, they do not serve as a
complete restoration as the repair is obvious to the eye. As explored in the technique article “Replacing Missing
Tortoise Shell with Dyed Optical Epoxy,” optical epoxy can be used to create an excellent visual match for tortoise
shell. Designed for optically transparent use, optical epoxy has an index of refraction that closely matches plate glass
(1.52 for Plate Glass vs. 1.53 for the Epotek 301-2) and is very close to the refractive index of tortoise shell. With the
addition of fiberglass reinforcement, a restoration is possible that is both structurally sound and invisible from the
exterior.

MATERIALS AND TOOLS

- Optical Epoxy (Epotek Optical Epoxy 301-2)

- Mono Ethyl Ether
- Orasol Dyes (in powder form)
- Round Bastard File (5mm diameter)
- Small Round mousetail file
- Hobby Clay
- Fiberglass Mesh (woven)
- Fiberglass Loose Strands (made by separating up the mesh)
- Bow Chisels (varying size, 15 degree side bevel)
Paraffin Wax
- Toothpicks
- Lead Tape
- Packing Tape
- Sandpaper (600, 2000)
- Thin Kerf Saw
- Nitrile Gloves
- Half-Mask Respirator with 3M 6005 or 6006 Filter (60925 or 60926 for particle protection)

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ORDER OF OPERATIONS
1. Photos and Measurements
2. Tape and Prepare the Frog
3. Removing Leftover Tongue Material (optional)
4. Fill the Hair Channel with Wax and File a Channel
5. File Side Channels
6. Make a Frog House
7. Create the Cast Form
8. Prepare and Color Optical Epoxy
9. Prepare Fiberglass
10. Fill The Mould
11. Remove The Mould
12. Fit the Ferrule
13. Final Photos

1. PHOTOS AND MEASUREMENTS

As with all restoration projects, it is good practice to take many photos and measurements of the bow and frog
before work begins. Be sure to photograph any and all damage or wear marks on the frog so that at the end,
when removing the tape to reveal the frog, there are no surprises or questions as to the original condition of the
frog (Fig. 1).

Photograph the frog prior to starting work.

Standard Bow Measurements: Additional Frog Measurements:

- Weight of bow (with hair in)
- Balance point of bow (with hair in)
- Weight of bow (with hair removed)
- Balance point of bow (with hair removed)
- Weight of frog alone (with hair, wedge, ferrule
and block removed) (Broken tongue pieces can be
collected and placed on the scale with the frog to get
the most accurate number)
- Length from back of slide channel to front of ferrule
- Depth of mortise
- Location of mortise
- Depth of hair channel (from rails) at mortise
- Depth of hair channel (from rails) at back end of ferrule
- Depth of slide channel at all four corners

2. TAPE AND PREPARE THE FROG

To protect the surface of the tortoise shell while working on the frog, use packing tape to coat the surface of the frog.
Cover every surface, including the rails and the back plate, but leave the hair channel and mortise uncovered.

3. REMOVING LEFTOVER TONGUE MATERIAL (OPTIONAL)

Depending on the opacity and color of the tortoise of the frog, it may be prudent to remove any remaining
material left of the tongue. This can be a tricky decision. O n one hand, keeping original material is a safe and
conservative approach, and with some bows or clients this may be the way to go. O n the other hand, by leaving the
broken or jagged edges intact, a restoration with an invisible seam may be impossible, as the joint between epoxy
and original shell may show when viewed from certain angles. In the example shown here, the original material
left on the tongue was kept, as there was a decent amount of material intact including both corners of the original
tongue to register the ferrule (Fig. 2 & 3).

4. FILL THE HAIR CHANNEL WITH WAX AND FILE A CHANNEL

Melt paraffin wax over a candle (Fig. 4), and use it to fill the mortice and hair channel up all the way to the rails
(Fig. 5). Let it cool and harden (Fig. 6). Using a 5 m m round bastard mill file (a narrower file may be necessary
on a frog with a thinner hair channel), cut a half round channel down through the wax between the rails (Fig. 7).
Continue filing an even channel from front to back into the tortoise shell. Stop filing when there is 0.5mm of tor-
 Fig- 5

Melt paraffin wax over a candle. Fill the mortise and hair channel with wax up to the rails.
 Allow the wax to cool and harden before proceeding. File a half round channel in the wax.

toise shell left at the ferrule end. Unlike the tongue repair in ebony, it is not necessary to cut all the way to the
interior dimensions of the ferrule (Fig. 8). This long section of removed tortoise shell will be filled with colored
optical epoxy and fiberglass and will act as the anchor for the new tongue.

5. FILE SIDE CHANNELS

Using a small round mousetail file, cut channels in the ends of the slide rails to be filled with epoxy and
fiberglass strands. These small anchors will provide additional stability for the new tongue (Fig. 9 & 10).

Fig- 8

Bright red circles demonstrate where to place the file for steps 4 & 5. Dark red indicates the areas that will be filled with epoxy.
 Fig. 10

Use round mousetail file to cut channels in the slide rails. Channels are filled later with materials to provide stability.

6. MAKE A FROG HOUSE

Using scrap plywood, build a little home for the frog (Fig. 11 & 12). This enclosure is necessary to build up
support underneath the mould used to cast the new tongue. Use cheap modeling clay (non-hardening) from a
hobby store to nestle the frog securely in the form. Rub dry soap all over the taped exterior of the frog before

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Use plywood to build a container with one open end to house the frog and provide support while working.

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 Mould should be 3-4mm longer than final tongue length. Fill mould with non-hardening clay for frog to nestle in.

putting it in the frame just as an additional precaution to make sure no spilled or dripped epoxy dries in
unintended places. Make a front door to the house that will double as the front end of the mould - make sure
the mould area created is much longer (3-4mm) than the final tongue length. Example: the ferrule is 9mm long,
so make the distance between the frog and the front door at least 13mm. The front door can be held on with
tape so it can be easily removed once the epoxy is set.

7. CREATE THE CAST FORM

Once the frog is happily nestled in its home, start shaping the clay to make a rough cast for the epoxy. To fur-
ther reinforce the cast, use a small strip of lead tape on top of the clay (Fig. 13). The final surface of the mould-

Press lead tape strip into clay. Tape door onto mould, and cover lead with wax to prevent epoxy from adhering to the mould.
ing area will be covered in wax to ensure that the epoxy does not adhere (Fig. 14). This is the simplest way we
have determined to make a small casting area using inexpensive and easily available items - the resulting epoxy
surface is intentionally oversized to account for pitting left by unevenness in the wax layered mould. In the
future we may try using the ferrule and a two-part casting resin to create a mould that would leave us with only
a millimeter or so to trim down. Whether the benefits of a more complex mould system would outweigh the
time/cost of doing so remains to be seen. The example shown here was accomplished with a simple wax mould.

8. PREPARE AND COLOR OPTICAL EPOXY

Wear PPE - nitrile gloves, respirator, and eye protection. Mix the optical epoxy Part A and B together with
care following the instructions as precisely as possible. Imprecision in ratio or mixing of the two parts can
cause issues with the drying time and the eventual hardness of the epoxy. Mix the two parts together using a

Mix clear epoxy and put it in five containers to add dye.

toothpick in a plastic container until any white traces of the separate parts disappear into a fully clear solution.
The addition of trace amounts of mono ethyl ether in the coloring process may have adverse effects on dry
time, so the initial mix must be done correctly.

Once the epoxy is prepared, there are several hours of open working time at room temperature. Divide the
epoxy into five dappen dishes (Fig. 15), and looking at the frog (and photos of the frog) select the color
tones that make up the different layers of the tortoise shell. All the standard violin retouch colors are usually
represented - shades of brown, orange, yellow, green, and red. Make up a small retouch palette using the
necessary dyes. Use alcohol to dissolve the dyes on the palette and allow them to dry in place. Keep the
respirator and nitrile gloves on while using mono ethyl ether. To get the dye into the epoxy, take toothpicks
and cut each end with a knife to make thin flat surfaces. Dip the toothpick end into the ether and use it to pick
up dye from the retouch palette. If using a retouch palette used regularly for other retouch, remember to only
use each side of the toothpick once to transfer dye from the palette to the epoxy as any epoxy transferred back
to the retouch palette will cause problems in the future. Use as little ether as possible - only enough to quickly
make the dried dye soluble again and get it into the epoxy. This is why a toothpick is ideal, as the ether will
have almost completely evaporated in the travel time between the palette and the dappen dish. If too much
ether ends up in the epoxy, the drying time will be extended and will decrease the hardness of the dried epoxy.
Mix the color in as completely as possible. If small flecks of color appear in the epoxy it means the dye isn’t
being fully dissolved by the ether. Start that color again by using a little more ether and transferring less dye at
a time. Toothpicks are cheap; use a bunch of them.
era"

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Tighten weave of fiberglass mesh prior to cutting strips. Cut strips the exact width and length of frog channel.

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- the cold will stop the epoxy from curing. It will be advantageous for the next layers to have the colored epoxy
slightly thicken - it will prevent colors from just running together once in the mould.

After the initial epoxy is mostly set, it is time to add the first layer with fiberglass mesh. If there is trouble with
the mesh weave separating, put clear or lightly colored epoxy on the mesh to keep it together. Use toothpicks
to place and position the mesh in the bottom of the channel. With the mesh placed, put drops of colored epoxy
over it until it is saturated. Do not overfill; there needs to be room for two more layers of mesh (Fig. 18). As

Fig. 20

Remove door using thin saw if any epoxy adhered to wood. Peel away clay, lead tape, and wax from new tongue.

Remove frog from mould, and use a back light to asset few tenths of a
before, place the epoxy back in the freezer and let this layer set for 4 hours. Repeat this process twice more -
three layers of fiberglass mesh will create a tongue that is stronger than the original. If the frog is particularly
narrow and only two layers of the mesh will fit, that will be fine as well. It does not need to be exactly every 4
hours - please go home at a decent hour and let things set over night. Take several days to do the entire fill, as
the full cure time for the optical epoxy is 48 hours at room temperature.
The final step will be to fill the side channels filed out in Step 5. Use many single strands of the fiberglass to
fill the slots and extend all the way into the new tongue, and cover with epoxy (Fig. 19). Overflow at this stage

Complete initial trimming of the new tongue with chisels to begin to fit it to the ferrule.
is fine and will be trimmed away once the epoxy is dried. Wait 48 hours before removing the frog from the
enclosure.

11. REMOVE THE MOULD

Carefully remove the front door to the frog enclosure - if the epoxy has leaked through the wax and adhered
to the wood, a thin kerf saw will soon set it free (Fig. 20). Peel away the clay, lead tape, and wax from the new
oversized tongue (Fig. 21), and remove the frog. Things can look a little awkward at this stage - the tongue will

Fig. 24

File tongue to achieve a closer fit of the ferrule.

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be oversized and a little lumpy in places from the unevenness of the wax (Fig. 22). All of this will be trimmed
away as the ferrule is fit. If there is a larger void on the surface of the tongue, either caused by a trapped bubble
of air or unevenness in the wax, fill it with epoxy. Look carefully through the tongue with a light behind it for
any bubbles that may have stayed in the epoxy; very tiny ones that cannot be seen from the exterior are okay,
but anything larger than a few tenths of a millimeter should be dealt with by drilling down into the epoxy with
a 0.5mm bit to hit the bubble. Filling the drill path with appropriately colored epoxy will hide any trace of it.

12. FIT THE FERRULE

From this step on, the restoration proceeds similarly to the tongue replacement in ebony as detailed in the
“Replacing a Broken Tongue” technique article. Start by trimming the tongue to fit the ferrule with chisels (Fig.
23, files Fig. 24), and finally with 600 and 2000 grit sandpaper to hit the high spots as the ferrule slides on (Fig.
25 &26).

New frog tongue showing the color matching and final shapt

/15\
Once the ferrule is fit, proceed with cutting out the rails for the slide and the hair channel, using the
measurements taken from the original frog as a guide. Measurements are vital for the fit of the slide, but for the
hair channel use a scale to judge material removal. The end result should be exactly the same weight, so that
there is no change to the balance point or the playing feel of the bow.

13. FINAL PHOTOS

As shown in the finished photos here, the seam between old broken tortoise shell and new epoxy is visible
from certain angles, so the restoration will not go unnoticed by someone rehairing the bow. This is acceptable.
With hair in the bow, the repair is invisible to a player, even when shining a light through the frog, but no
professional with access to the interior will be fooled into mistaking the frog to be completely original. Intense
UV light from a highlighting this restoration, although again, only with interior access (Fig. 27-30).

Fig. 28 Fig. 29

Completed tongue channel view. Completed tongue top view.

Fig. 30

Side view of completed frog with ferrule.

NOTES:
Please direct any questions, comments, and further considerations to the
workshop at Triangle Strings by sending an email to workshopstaff@tristrings.
com.

TRIANGLE
 TRIANGLE

REPLACING MISSING TORTOISESHELL

W I T H DYED OPTICAL EPOXY
Written by Pasewicz, Jerry. “Replacing Missing Tortoiseshell with Dyed Optical Epoxy.” The Conservation,
Restoration, and Repair of Stringed Instruments and Their Bows. Vol. 3. Montreal, London: IPCI-Canada,
Archetype Publications, 2010. Print.
 TECHNIQUE INTRODUCTION
The conventional manner to repair damaged tortoiseshell has been to fill the frog with small pieces of tortoiseshell
cut from combs, oriental fans, o r other flea-market finds and glue the pieces into place using CA glue. However,
results of this time-consuming method varied and, today, tortoiseshell has become very hard to find. To replace
missing pieces, our workshop uses a low-viscosity, high-transparency optical epoxy. The low viscosity contributes
to the quality of the result by allowing any bubbles trapped during pouring to flow o u t easily. The high transparency
enables restoration of the clearest of tortoiseshells.

MATERIALS AND TOOLS

- Good-quality, non-stretching transparent packing tape
- Modeling clay
- 4 dental dappen dishes
- Very low-viscosity, high-transparency optical epoxy
(such as Epoxy Technology 301-2)
- A palette knife

- Opaque pigments (available from Epoxy Technology)

- Ethylene glycol monoethyl ether (Cellosolve)
- A spatula
- Toothpicks
- A cloth
- A matting agent (such as Aerosil)
- Carving tools, including a shallow gouge, a chisel, knives,
scrapers, and files

- Assorted abrasives, including micro-mesh

- Mineral spirits
- Alcohol
- Dyes in powder form (such as Orasol Powdered dyes)

ORDER OF OPERATIONS

1. Prepare Frog and Isolate Work Area 6. Cure Epoxy

2. Mix and Color Epoxy Filler 7. Remove D a m and Shape Repaired Area

3. Test Epoxy Filler 8. Clean Repaired Area

4. Match Colors As Necessary 9. Acknowledgments

5. Add Matting Agent and Apply the Filler

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 Fig. 1

Damaged tortoiseshell frog.

1. PREPARE FROG A N D ISOLATE WORK AREA

Make sure the frog is clean and free of any loose tortoiseshell fragments Fig. 1. Carefully tape the parts of the
frog that are not being treated. Make a dam around the area to be filled. Packing tape works best for repairs
to the back o r along the edges of the frog; modeling clay work best for repairs to the flanks.

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 2. MIX, COLOR, A N D TEST EPOXY FILLER

Ensure adequate ventilation in t h e work area w h e n using epoxy.[1] M i x the e p o x y as described in t h e instructions.
Place the four dappen dishes o n the workbench. Pour t h e mixed e p o x y in clear form into t h e first dish. Pour the
dye powder into t h e second dish, a n d a d d a d r o p of the ethylene glycol monoethyl ether to dissolve it.[2] Add
only as much as is needed to dissolve the powder; adding too much m a y affect t h e curing of the epoxy. W h e n
the color matches t h e repair area, combine a small a m o u n t of t h e liquid dye a n d some clear e p o x y in the third
dish. Very little dye is required to color the epoxy Fig. 2&3.

3. TEST EPOXY FILLER

N o w check t h e hue a n d opacity of t h e dyed epoxy. D i p the end of a toothpick into the filler, d r o p a small a m o u n t
into t h e repair area, a n d hold t h e frog to a source of light to see if t h e filler matches t h e surrounding tortoiseshell.
[ 3 ] W i p e away t h e test amount.

4. MATCH COLORS AS NECESSARY

Add more liquid dye or clear epoxy to the third dish as necessary. In cases where less transparency is called for, opaque
pigments may be added to the epoxy mixture. Keep testing the filler until you achieve a perfect match.[4] In most
tortoiseshell frogs, the hue, intensity, and opacity of the color varies. Depending on the repair area, more than one
color will be needed for a suitable replacement The fourth dish can be used to mix a second color if necessary.

4
 ■

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5. A D D MATTING AGENT A N D APPLY FILLER

When the filler matches the hue and opacity of the repair area, add a small amount of matting agent. The reflectivity
of the filler should match t h a t of the surrounding tortoiseshell. Each repair is different, so it is necessary to experiment
with the quantity of matting agent. Retest the filler in the repair area to confirm its suitability one last time. Pour the
filler into the dam Fig. 4. Where the area to repair requires both a light and a dark portion of tortoisehell, use
one toothpick to apply light-coloured epoxy and a second toothpick to apply dark-coloured epoxy. D r o p both
colors into the matching portion of the repair area at the same time.

6. CURE EPOXY

Cure the epoxy according to the instructions for the particular climate conditions.

7. REMOVE DAM A N D SHAPE REPAIRED AREA

W h e n the filler has cured, remove the dam. Use mineral spirits if the dam is made of tape; modeling clay will fall
away easily. Carefully carve away the excess filler.

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 8. CLEAN REPAIRED AREA

Remove the tape from the parts of the frog that were not treated with mineral spirits. Wipe off any residue with
a cloth and alcohol Fig. 5.

9. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

When I had the pleasure of working with David Burgess, he showed me a method of tortoiseshell replacement
using polyester resin. His experience is the basis for the technique presented in this article

6
FOOTNOTES
1. See Monona Rossol, "Chemical Safety in the Workshop,” 1:463-70. Ed.
2. The same principles of color matching used in retouching varnish apply here. See J&A Beare Ltd, "Retouching
Varnish on Stringed Instruments,” 2:154-62; Stewart Pollens, “Cleaning and Retouching Violin Varnish, with
a Discussion of Colour Theory,” 1-664-94; Hans Weisshaar and Margaret Shipman, Violin Restoration: A
Manual for Violin Makers (Los Angeles: Weisshaar-Shipman,1988),205-10. Ed.
3. Use daylight or, if not strong enough, an artificial light source and ideally a full-spectrum light source.
4. The repair, which should not show in natural conditions, will reveal itself under ultraviolet light.

7
NOTES
Pasewicz, Jerry. “Replacing Missing Tortoiseshell with Dyed
Optical Epoxy.” The Conservation, Restoration, and Repair of
Stringed Instruments and Their Bows. Vol. 3. Montreal, London:
IPCI-Canada, Archetype Publications, 2010. Print.

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