Separated back back

[pianoman]

Hello
You didn't say if you let down the tension?
James Grebe
R.P.T. of the P.T.G.
 Since 1962 in St. Louis, MO
Home of Handsome Hardwood Caster Cups
pianoman@inlink.com        

----------
> From: Clyde Hollinger <cedel@redrose.net>
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: Separated back
> Date: Saturday, August 22, 1998 6:44 AM
> 
> Friends:
> 
> Several months ago I asked your advice on repairing a separated back on
> an Everett school piano.  Just in case you're interested, here's how it
> went when I did the job this week.
> 
> I pulled the back together with three clamps where it was separated;
> removed the center plate screw (along the top edge) and drilled through
> the back at that place, as well as making two new holes, one about 8" on
> either side of where the screw was, on the flat surface; put the 5/16"
> carriage bolts into the holes but didn't tighten them; released my
> clamps and worked 90-minute epoxy into the crack; retightened the clamps
> as much as I felt I should; tightened the three bolts until they were
> very snug; cleaned away the epoxy that squeezed out the top; left it set
> overnight.  When I took the clamps off the next day, nothing moved an
> iota, as far as I could tell, and the repair is very neat, although I
> might still cut off the unused bolt ends sometime.
> 
> One question:  I didn't pull the back all the way together, since
> resistance (originally about 1/8") while tightening the clamps was
> getting very high.  The crack was still 1/16 inch at the most.  Was I
> right to just stabilize the back the way I did, or should I have tried
> to force the thing the whole way?  I didn't want to break anything.
> 
> Clyde Hollinger, RPT
> Lititz, PA