Laminated Bridge Cap Construction

[Ron Nossaman]

At 08:12 PM 3/14/2003 -0500, you wrote:

>To: Laminated Bridge Cap Builders
>
>Do you folks make up a sheet of capping material and then cut it up like a 
>regular bridge cap? With that method, you could treat it just like 
>traditional bridge capping and make the cap for the long bridge out of 
>several pieces, or you could cut it out in one piece, but then you won't 
>have preferable grain orientation. I would imagine anyone doing it this 
>way would then have a two or three piece bridge cap?

I do strips, and multiple cap pieces. If your clamping cauls are the same 
width as your lamination strips, a couple of clamps from the sides will 
keep everything contained side to side while you clamp down the "sandwich". 
It's low tech, but I'm not making it by the mile.


>Or do you cut the individual laminates to conform to the bridge curve 
>first. Each laminate layer might be made of three or four pieces. 
>Successive layers would have the 1.5 mm-thick butt joints offset from one 
>another (staggered). Then laminate it together. That way you make each cap 
>custom fit for the bridge and you get preferred grain angles, and a strong 
>one piece cap for the entire long bridge. That is the way I am doing mine, 
>although I suspect it is not the way others are doing it.
>
>Enlighten us.
>
>Terry Farrell

And you thought my bridge bending caul was too much work? As an experiment 
(didn't use it in a piano, though I don't see any reason not to) I made up 
a bridge by laminating odd lengths of something like 4 or 5mm thick maple 
strips one layer at a time, with butt joints staggered from lamination to 
lamination, in the shape of the bridge and cut it out with the bandsaw. 
Made an odd, but otherwise serviceable looking bridge.

Ron N