Bridge Recap Time

[John Hartman]

Ron,

Since you opened up this can of worms I hope you won't be offended if I
add to the criticism. Your technique for re-capping bridges has the
following problems.

1 You have weakened the bridge by creating a vertical joint. The end
grain to end grain glue joint has little integrity. You have literally
cut the bridge in half.

2 The techniques you have used can not be easily reversed. I usually
don't consider this to be a big deal but in this case the remedy is
going to be quite costly. When the piano is finally restored an entire
new bridge will need to be built. 

3 Your technique adds nothing to the quality of the piano. Your notion
of having new wood for the pin holes seems, to me, to be misguided.
There is nothing wrong with filling the holes in the bridge body with
epoxy prier to re-capping. If this was your reasoning why not build a
new bridge in the same manner as the original? 

4 Your technique is more elaborate and takes longer than the traditional
method.

To recap; you have destroyed the bridge, you have created a new problem
for the future, you have made no improvement and you have wasted time. 

There is a difference between re-engineering and de-engineering.

Respectfully,

John Hartman 



Overs Pianos wrote:
> 
> Terry and list,
> 
> If you're just getting into bridge recapping Terry, there's a series
> of images (6) on my website which shows the recapping of the top two
> string sections of a certain Hamburg Steinway D, which eventually
> caused much controversy here in Aus' back in 1996. I also lost about
> half a years work (or more) defending my position.
> 
> The first image can be found at;
> 
> http://www.overspianos.com.au/bcrp1.html
> 
> Each image has a link at the bottom of the page, to the next image in
> the series.
> 
> The images are linked from a document which discusses a procedure for
> cutting quarter cut stock, suitable for recapping, out of back
> sawn/slab sawn boards. I think Bob Hoff wrote an excellent series in
> the Journal last year in which he states that he uses a similar
> technique for resawing capping material. This document can be found
> at;
> 
> http://www.overspianos.com.au/rsaw.html
> 
> Also included in the page is an extract from a report I wrote back in
> 1996, when Steinway Hamburg and I found ourselves with differing
> opinions, regarding my rebuilding procedures. Much of this centered
> around the way I recap vertically laminated bridges. We still use the
> same technique as shown in the drawings. Of course, if any company or
> potential client has a problem with our techniques, they are always
> at liberty to chose another repairer.
> 
> Ron O
> --
> 
> _________________________
> 
> Website:  http://www.overspianos.com.au
> Email:      mailto:ron@overspianos.com.au
> _________________________