rib replacement

[John Delacour]

At 11:10 AM -0500 10/2/02, Erwinspiano@AOL.COM wrote:

>You know I've heard this idea before and I have no doubts that I 
>could  accomplish this task but no one yet has gone on record as to 
>the actual step by step procedure to get the old soundboard out of 
>the piano without sustaianing any damage.

If the board is tenoned into the straight side (as it is on an Ibach 
grand whose board I'm just about to take out, then there's some 
preliminary work to do, but once there is free passage skywards, then 
spirit (alcohol), pressure, good lights and a great deal of care are 
all that's needed.  The grand needs to be upside down and tilted so 
that the spirit runs where you want it.  The pressure is applied with 
screws pushing against hardwood blocks pushed right up to the angle 
between rim and soundboard to avoid tearing up of the grain.  The 
screws can be 1/2" studding in hardwood blocks that you clamp to the 
rim and move round.  The covered areas need more ingenuity and it 
will depend on the piano how you approach these.  Once you've got the 
spirit to push a foot or so free, say in the middle of the bent side, 
and get in the first (very thin) wedges, the work proceeds quite 
fast, but anyone who's done this kind of work knows that it must be 
allowed to proceed at the pace set by the spirit and the glue.  The 
slightest impatience will lead to damage.  With this sort of job I 
make sure I have a good mental picture beforehand of exactly how I'm 
going to proceed and I'll usually let a night or two pass between 
looking at the job and starting work.

JD