First to tell you which instruments I have to restore: all types
of church or house pipe organs, harmoniums, reed organs, player
instruments in all types, automatic instruments, fairground organs,
celestas, church books and Bibles, and other stuff what comes in
between.  This is the field I'm talking about.

I agree with Mr. Bullock's arguments about the glues.  Did you ever,
ever clean an instrument which was "helped" with these products?!

Oh my, an old song from the nineteen-sixties had a nice tune:
"Killing me softly with this song," etc., etc.  I would like to say,
"killing me softly with this stuff," etc., etc.

We first -- I say we, the professional restorers -- have rules for
ethics of how to restore correctly.  I'm a member of an organisation
which holds all the possible disciplines of work in the field.  Outside
the Netherlands already museums or others are searching in the member's
index.  And guess what?  In the Netherlands too!

If a museum, a church or whoever else wants to find information or a
restorer, they first look in the site map of ours.  Why?  Because the
piece needs to be restored for the future, and well done.  If we don't
want to follow these ethics and standards then we have to declare no
assignment will come.  And that is in Europe, where in some of these
countries it is already a standard procedure!

Twenty years ago it was normal to restore like it was brand-new made.
That was the fashion.  But even in those days you knew, this is wrong,
but my clients want it.  Wrong!  You have to say what will come in the
next decade: problems!

I come from a lot of disciplines, and the rules of ethics are becoming
more and more extreme.  Why?  Just for one purpose: that next generations
will see and can hear the old stuff from their historical background.

The most important thing with a glue is that it must be reversible
when the next generation wants to restore it.  And they can do it
because those glues can be taken away like it was 300 years ago.

Hot glue from skin is already very old.  From bones it is about 180
years ago, and today still in business.  Everyday!

An example is the glue strength, or "Bloom number" or "Bloom value."
This is important to know.  Hide glue from cows for example (hot glue)
can be bought in Bloom number from 100 to 500.  The higher the value,
the stronger the glue and longer existing as a glue.  A bone glue (from
cows, horses, etc.) has a Bloom number from 100 till 150.  You need that
on other surfaces which need to be separated in 20 years, for example.

Now for the hobby repairmen.  You can say, "An instrument with a value
of 10 bucks?  I can do what I like."  Of course you can.  If it is old
and rubbish, try the wrong glues and see after a few years what's going
on with it!

Do I call those people stupid or whatever that they are using only
those modern glues in old instruments?  No!  Listen to the people who
have to do it everyday for their business.

If you want to learn it old-fashioned, you will have a lot of fun,
even after 20 years.  But it takes more time to learn!  And yes,
some modern glues can help on a few places in an instruments where
it's frame/foundation will need more strength, because it never should
break or something else for what the manufacturer has designed.

I'm working already 40 years plus, and have been a teacher too,
20 years long at a special high school for young and old people,
to teach them the ethics and how to do so in practice.  Yes, I have
all my degrees!

They worked with their hands and they loved it!  Crazy -- they loved
the old-fashioned way.  But there were some that did not; they wanted
to try the modern stuff.  I let them -- no hard feelings.  With
artist's work it is the same.  You like it ... or not!!

I hope this will help a little bit.

Louis Huivenaar
Netherlands

 [ A man named Bloom developed the standard test for the quality of
 [ refined gelatin.  The "Bloom value" is a measure of the strength
 [ of a gelatin film.  It is also an indication of the water binding
 [ capacity of the gelatin: the higher the Bloom number, the higher
 [ the water binding capacity.  Ref.  http://www.gelatin-gmia.com/
 [ and http://www.gelatine.org/  -- Robbie