This was a quick test to look at the effectiveness of silk as a rib reinforcement rather than a more commonly used wood cleat.
I used polyester in this test but later I did some simple tests and found that natural silk sticks better and doesn’t skid around and wrinkle during gluing as much as other types
While I was thinking of this as part of a crack repair I believe that Stradivari used silk strips on his cello ribs and having tired this test I will adopt the habit myself; the reinforcement greatly resists cracking due to impact and if the rib should crack the two sides are held closely together. I think that it would also be useful in managing the shrinkage cracks near the blocks on cello ribs, at least resisting cracking those areas.
I’m curious to hear of anyone’s experience or opinions on using silk to “cleat” top and back cracks