>Hey Ron >Thanks for the Post .Dittos on the reliability factors ,longevety and all >that .I am curios as to what M.C. you choose to dry to before pressing and >if you are crowning 60 ft. dimens. on all ribs .And where are you located? >I,m curios as to how boards made by other. rebuilders are holding up in >there given regions .I suspect all of us small shop rebuilders are sustain >freaks at heart and have heard the term long tone pianos used by Ron Overs >and others .My y intent her is just to swap alittle more info. and get the >feedback of others who do this day in and out .I think we are or can be >fairly isolated from other colleagues by distance and schedule. >Talk soon Dale Erwin Hi Dale, I'm in Wichita Kansas - and no, we haven't had a problem with hostile Indians here for quite some time, though city management is pretty lame. Every one (Indians) I've met has been an exemplary citizen except for Robert (last name withheld), but that was understandable considering the kind of people he hung out with. As to soundboards, I'm using about 6%MC in my panels, which is 30%RH @ 70°. A little lower wouldn't hurt for this area, but this doesn't seem to be too high at that if the crown radius is a little tighter than 'standard', and the rib is dimensioned so it will deflect enough under string bearing load to make up the difference. I used to use 60' radii throughout (in another less satisfying life), went to 7, then 6, but am now using 5 different radii, progressively tighter into the treble, and all of them substantially smaller than 60'. So far, they have held up better than the more 'standard' configuration, and sound a whole lot better than anything I ever did before I took the plunge into non-traditional design deviation. That's Del's fault, by the way. If he hadn't already done all the hard part and dangled the bait that this stuff was possible, I probably wouldn't have pressed it to this degree and damaged most of my remaining brain cells trying to work this stuff out. Thanks yet again Del, it hurts good. My problem now is that I would much rather spend 60 hours per week doing the R&D, than 40 doing maintenance - but the refrigerator must be filled periodically, so I try to temper the passions accordingly. This Internet List thing has been a sho-nuff revelation for me as far as dispelling some of the regional and personal isolation we who are perhaps somewhat off center to the mainstream are subject to. I've discovered other geeks out there I can communicate with, and life is good as a result. Best, Ron N
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