 |
| The
wrist handle of this Spofford-patent brace was applied in two
pieces after the casting was made and machined. During its long life it
was damaged as evidenced by the missing rosewood at upper left in the
image below. That damage also broke one of the two pewter rings that
hold the halves together. I repaired the break with 60:40 (i.e.,
eutectic composition tin-lead, with the lowest and most fluidic melting
point) as you can see at right. The pewter melts at a higher
temperature, so this was a simple soldering task during which I had to
be careful not to heat the pewter too much. An electric soldering iron
meant for electronics assembly was what I used. |
 |
| Another
repair was that I had to straighten the frame; another owner's efforts
made the nicks seen in the frame immediately above the wrist handle at
left. I used a large leg vice, a big lever, and plenty of
wooden
pads to avoid further damage. |
Finally, I applied a new thumbscrew (available on the 'Net
!) and
inserted a freshly threaded plug to replace the damaged screws of the
original chuck. |
|
