bridge repair advice

Wimblees@AOL.COM Wimblees@AOL.COM
Tue, 1 Jan 2002 13:40:24 EST


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In a message dated 1/1/02 3:42:24 PM !!!First Boot!!!, Tvak@AOL.COM writes:


> Next week I'm going to attempt to repair a cracked bass bridge by gluing it 
> back together.  Never having done this before, I'm hoping for some advice 
> from those of you who have tried this before.  The bridge, on a 1935 
> Monarch 
> upright, is cracked and separated along the bridge pins.  I plan to 
> separate 
> fully the loose piece, remove the bridge pins, epoxy and clamp the bridge 
> together, and re-insert the bridge pins before the glue sets.   
> 
> Any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> Tom Sivak
> 

Tom

There are two repairs I have done successfully. One takes a little time, the 
other can be done instantly.

If you have the time, I would suggest PC7. It is a slow drying, but very hard 
epoxy, that is about the same color as the bridge cap. The method you want to 
use will work very good with this. What is neat about PC7, is that is a very 
thick paste, like gum, that takes about 24 hours to cure. This will give you 
plenty of time to put the epoxy in the crack, clamp it, put the bridge pins 
back in, and then remove any excess epoxy around the pins. The only draw 
back, is that the epoxy should cure for at least 24 to 36 hours. I usually 
wait 3 days before putting the string back on.  

The other method I have done is with super glue. The problem is, you have to 
make sure the bridge is clamped, and the pins are in place, before you apply 
the super glue. If this crack in on the upper pins, (speaking side), you can 
drop the glue on the pins, and it will seep in the cracks. (I don't think 
this repair will work if the crack is on the bottom pins, without tipping the 
piano on it's back.) After the glue has been applied, kick it, and your done. 
5 minutes later you can put the strings back on and tune the piano. Like I 
said, this repair will work, but if you make a mistake, you're out of luck. 

Good luck

Wim 

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