Soundboard Thoughts

[Ron Nossaman]

Hi Del,

I'm glad to hear this. I've been arguing with local people for years that
horizontal laminations in bridges were getting a bum rap, but what I was
saying was contrary to what they'd heard, etc, etc. You know the drill. Thanks.

Ron

At 01:13 PM 12/9/97 -0800, you wrote:
>
>
>Ron Nossaman wrote:
>
>> Hi Newton,
>>
>> It would split twice as fast? If it were taller than it was wide, would it
>> "break off" with a major pitch raise? How about "flagpoling bridge syndrome"?
>>
>> The splitting part brings me to something I wanted to ask anyway. Is there a
>> reasonable body of empirical evidence that horizontally laminated bridges
>> are evil, or is it just that since they are found on evil pianos, it's
>> assumed? Have horizontally laminated bridges been actually installed in
>> decent pianos and tested?
>>
>> Ever a "lert" and in anticipation, Ron
>>
>> Ron Nossaman
>
>  ------------------------
>
>The idea that horizontally laminated bridges were a bad thing is a holdover
from the days when folks were concerned about the
>speed of sound through the glue joint. The idea was that if it was
different from that if the wood it would somehow upset the
>sound wave.
>
>Piano bridges are just that -- bridges. They have mass and they have
stiffness. There are a variety of ways to design and
>build good bridges and just as many ways to design and build bad bridges.
Horizontally laminated bridges can be designed to
>work just as well as either solid body bridges or vertically laminated
bridges. Mostly it's a matter of what the manufacturer
>is tooled up to make. If you are making more than just a few pianos,
vertically laminated bridges are easy to make. All it
>requires is a simple press and a male and female caul. If you have CNC
milling machinery, then horizontally laminated bridges
>are easy to make.
>
>My personal preference is a vertically laminated body and a horizontally
laminated cap. This combines the ease of manufacture
>of the vertically laminated body and the excellent termination qualities
and durability of the horizontally laminated cap.
>
>Solid body bridges are pretty much a thing of the past for most practical
purposes. Not only is good material is too hard to
>come by these days, but it's not a good idea to bond laminated stock to
solid stock. The expansion and contraction rates are
>quite different, hence the often seen delaminated bridge caps.
>
>-- ddf
>
>


 Ron Nossaman