I've been thinking about this process as a rebuilding alternative. What do you think, does the sanding treatment surpass a bridge cap in improving the quality of the piano? If it takes four hours to do this treatment, how does this compare, realistically with labor for a bridge cap. I generally don't do the bass bridge. My guess for labor on a treble bridge cap is 16 hours. I'm not sure because I work for an institution. Using a cabinet scraper is difficult. The scraper has a tendency to screw up the horizontal surface of the bridge. It is very hard to get even cutting pressure when pushing it along the bridge. Every time the it dips into a string groove it changes the way it is cutting. Here's what I suggest. Buy a hand power planner it can remove the necessary amount with no sweat. The last part of the bridge will require a bullnose plane. Finally, use a very sharp cabinet scraper to put an extremely smooth surface on the bridge. Cabinet scrapers are rectangular thin pieces of metal. They are very tricky to sharpen but if you do it right it surpasses sandpaper in smoothness. In fact, I have heard it said that sandpaper is relatively new and that cabinet scrapers were the grunt tool for finishers. **************************************************************************** Michael J. Wathen Phone: 513-556-9565 Piano Technician Fax: 513-556-3399 College-Consevatory of Music Email: Michael.Wathen@UC.Edu University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH 45221-0096 http://www.uc.edu/~wathenmj
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC