To dry or not to dry?

[Charles E. Faulk]

>  What was the condition of crown 
> and 
> bearing when it came in the shop?
> 
> Ron N


All these comments sparked my curiosity so I went down to my shop and did
some more checking on the soundboard.

The crown under full load of the strings is barely positive, maybe 1/32"
using a thread in the middle of the board. 

I pulled out my old Baldwin downbearing gauges (don't know where these
came from). Measuring in percentages of incline difference between the
speaking length and the behind-the-bridge strings I got: bass bridge ,
1+%; tenor section, 1/2%; third section, 1/2%; fourth section, 1+%.  A
little excessive on the bass bridge, but otherwise not bad.

The piano sustains nicely. Didn't bother to measure anything related.

Thanks to all of you for the advice. I'll take another look at the board
when the strings are removed.

Charles Faulk

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