John & Susan, Yes. We do this on a regular basis. Nearly all of our redesigns have added rim and/or belly rail bracing or other reinforcing. We examine the material used, the length of spans (especially along the bass side of the rim), etc. The criteria is providing a solid mechanical support for the soundboard. The exact process and tests we use to determine this must, alas, remain proprietary. Regards, Del -------------------------------------- jpiesik@arinc.com wrote: > Hi Susan, > > I guess I should have said, "...we cannot replace the plate, rim, or case..." > instead of using the word "change". It is interesting, though, what you bring up > regarding adding some type of reinforcement to a "saggy" rim. Has anyone ever done this? And how would you know a rim is > wimpy? Split rims are obvious, but beyond that, what are the symptoms of a bad rim? How could you make a rim originally > made of inferior soft material harder without wholesale replacement? > > Regards, > > John P. > > At 09:04 AM 12/11/97 -0500, John Piesik wrote: > > <big snip> > > We might > > change it's performance with a new part (e.g., soundboard, hammers, > > strings, keys), but since we cannot change the plate, rim, or case we > > cannot change the "soul" of the piano. > > I can well see that casting replacement plates might be prohibitively > expensive, but why couldn't we change the rim or case? Not scrapping them > and starting over, but beefing up wimpy rims? Adding reinforcement, possibly > tiebars like the Mason & Hamlin spider, or gluing heavy liners to the inner > rim? Why not? It seems no more effort than replacing soundboards. > > Always curious --- > > Susan > > Susan Kline > P.O. Box 1651 > Philomath, OR 97370 > skline@proaxis.com > > "I'm glad that there are at least some things somewhere that I don't have to > do today." > -- Ashleigh Brilliant > > > > > > >
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC