Ibex Splint Knife (and Splint Former)?

[Andrew]

I find myself in need of such a tool, but theres nothing in the way of reviews or other info other than a brief description on the sites where Ive found it. Is there anyone here who has/uses one of these? Are there other incarnations available? And so forth.

Have at it.

[Mike Kolb]

Good timing!  I just used the splint-maker yesterday to make a long splint for a violin top. It's a specialized tool that doesn't see a whole lot of use here but when it does... it's the one to go to.  

Well-made, cast bronze, very adjustable within a limited range.  Somewhat hard to hold in the hand so it usually ends-up in a small vise, but some type of handle would be nice...  might look-into that someday.   Good investment.

[Andrew]

What do you use to to cut the taper into the crack, Mike? Thats my main concern as you only really get one shot at that part. I should be able to get by without the splint maker I think, either by hand or with a temporary jig. though if it works as well as you say Ill have to consider it.

[Mike Kolb]

In this particular case yesterday the crack had opened to about .020" so it just needed to be splint and clamped shut.

I think you're right about being able to do the splint on a temp jig... in fact, it might even be quicker than using the Ibex splint maker.

If you're looking to get just one of the tools, the knife might be the more useful of the two.  I've had these since "back-when-they-were-cheap" so they've paid for themselves by now.  Not often used but handy.