material for go-bars

[Ron Nossaman]

>>What kind of wood did you find worked best? 


Hi gang,
I don't use go bars for gluing on ribs, but I do when installing the
soundboard, to clamp the panel down on the cutoff bars. I've been using 5/8"
square (rounded corners) x 6' (high ceiling) maple cut from a cheap load of
take out racket ball flooring. Allowing for different piano heights with
different caul thickness, and 1x6 pine planking on the ceiling. They take a
slight set overnight, without seeming to adversely affect clamping pressure,
but straighten back out over the next few days after disassembly. I've
always heard Shagbark Hickory invoked as the definitive go-bar material, but
I've never had the pleasure, so I couldn't say. Oak's not bad either. After
you have broken the ones that are going to break immediately, the rest seem
to do well. Anyway, that's my $0.015.

PS: Who out there has thumped a nice dent in a panel disengaging a go-bar?
Hands! How about smacking yourself up-side the head? The little suckers are
treacherous.

 Ron