To dry or not to dry?

[Ron Nossaman]

>Fellow rebuilders,
>
>For about the fourth time in many years, I've started rebuilding a piano
>with perfectly intact soundboard (Steinway Model M, 1916). It's amazing,
>not a single hairline crack, not one loose rib. In years past if I found
>such a board, I would go ahead and dry it down just out of pure anal
>retentativeness (new word?), just 'in case ...' as it were. But now
>looking at this well kept specimen, I question if I should do nothing
>more than scrape off the old top varnish, refinish it, and call it quits.
>
>Anybody have any thoughts on the subject?
>
>Regards,
>
>Charles Faulk


If lack of cracks and loose ribs were the sole determinant of soundboard 
viability, fine, but they're not. What was the condition of crown and 
bearing when it came in the shop?

Ron N