[pianotech] bridge notching machines - search-able title

[David Love]

I think I understand, so you place the notch that's cut in the hold down
over the exact spot on the bridge where you want the notch cut?  So then
when the cutter is retracted you can look down on top of the bridge and see
the position of the hold down. But then am I correct you can't actually
watch it cut but have to rely on the stop?  Is there a reason that you
couldn't have the side of the hold down aligned with the side of the cutter
so that you could actually just position the edge of the hold down along the
front/back pin line and watch it cut in addition to having the stop?  Or do
you need the hold down straddling the cutter when it comes on to the bridge
for stability?  Any chance of a picture with a bridge held in place?

David Love
www.davidlovepianos.com

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Ron Nossaman
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010 7:25 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] bridge notching machines - search-able title

On 10/18/2010 8:26 PM, David Love wrote:
> That's helpful.  And how does the indexing work?  Is it an eyeball thing
or
> do you have some more precise method.

It's visual. The hold down was originally notched by the cutter feeding 
to the stop. The resulting notch in the hold down is the visual index. 
It's a decent sighting system, in practice.


>I recall seeing the notcher at the
> Charles Walter factory and it somehow (don't recall now) indexed off of an
> adjacent bridge pin hole, though my memory is a bit fuzzy.

As is my vision. The photos I have of the Walter notcher look to me like 
it's entirely seat of the pants eyeball. Mine, I think, is somewhat more 
benign.


>Might be worth a
> trip to KC just for this.

Welcome. They didn't go for my all day belly class (a bummer), but I got 
a couple of tool related things, and a class on terminations. I'll have 
toys there you'll very likely find interesting. Hopefully somewhere near 
worth the trip and time.

Ron N