Laminated Soundboard Ribs

[Erwinspiano@AOL.COM]

---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment
.

> Subj:Re: Laminated Soundboard Ribs 
> Date:2/11/2002 6:59:46 PM Pacific Standard Time
> From:<A HREF="mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com">mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com</A>
> Reply-to:<A HREF="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A>
> To:<A HREF="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A>
> Sent from the Internet 
> 
>    Terry

        Do you have too much time on your hands? Nahhhh.
         You seem to be asking the right questions lately so you can't be 
gettin any sleep. 
        Laminated any thing is usually stiffer. Sounboard ribs are no 
different. I have and am currently experimenting with this ./ I have 
installed laminated ribs on one board. One advantage to this I think is that 
they can be stiffer without an increase in mass. Another is that it utilizes 
otherwise unusable lumber. I make these in my neumatic press which eliminates 
cutting the crown into them as they are preformed to a 60 ft. radius. It's 
very slick ,kind of messy. So far I'm just using three laminations and have 
only used them on the longer ribs say 7 of 12 ribs.  I'm not sure if the 
treble ribs really need it as they are already stiffer than the original ribs 
by virtue of there machined in crown. And the stiffness is increasing as they 
get shorter and shorter and are glued to narrower parts of the board which is 
also increasing stiffness. And if you use spruce over sugar pine yet stiffer 
ribs result. I personally like tight grain sugar pine in the top.
     As you get further into this you'll realize that a key question that 
you'll need to answer is how stiff is stiff enough when were talking about 
sound board stiffness and its benifits to tone. I personally don't know.but 
obviously the trebles of old compression crowned boards were not stiff enough 
at least not long term. 
   I find it highly likely that a compression crowned board with little 
compression to start with  loses most of its stiffness and hence most of its 
vitality within 10 or 20 years. Shocking ehh?
   As to the cutting thru the grain thing. If you just take out an old 
soundboard and cut it into strips cleanoff the varnish and glue them up 
you've got yourself a quarter sawn rib. Yeah why not?
  Can't help with the Weber serial no. Happy Hunting
>>>>Dale Erwin>>>>>

> 
> I guess a lot of my thinking comes from laminating ribs on boat hulls. I do 
> realize that a soundboard is not a hull. And the laminated ribs on the boat 
> replace steam-bent oak ribs. The laminated ones are nice because they tend 
> to hold their shape way better than the steam bent ones. You may well be 
> right that laminated would not be any stiffer than a solid rib. Part of my 
> thinking is also that you need to saw through the grain to make a crowned 
> soundboard rib - but of course, you are only cutting into it 1/8-inch or 
> so. Some boats have sawn ribs and you end up with much of the wood grain 
> not in a preferred orientation. I guess not such a big deal on the piano. I 
> was also thinking of making a good use for the old soundboard. If you had 
> laminated ribs, you could just cut up the old soundboard and at least make 
> nice laminated ribs from it.
> 
> I'm also just posting because no-one will help me with my German F. Weber 
> serial #19290!
> 
> Terry Farrell
>   
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Phillip L Ford" <fordpiano@lycos.com>
> To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Monday, February 11, 2002 9:52 PM
> Subject: Re: Laminated Soundboard Ribs
> 
> 
> > Terry,
> > What makes you think that the laminated rib would be stiffer than a solid 
> rib of
> > the same dimensions (assuming the laminations are of the same material as
> > the solid rib)?
> > 
> > Phil F
> > ---
> > Phillip Ford
> > Piano Service & Restoration
> > 1777 Yosemite Ave - 215
> > San Francisco, CA  94124
> > 
> > 
> > On Mon, 11 Feb 2002 07:47:43  
> >  Farrell wrote:
> > >If ribs are supposed to add stiffness to a soundboard, I would think 
> that a laminated rib might offer some advantages. It would be stiffer for 
> the same dimension than a non-laminated rib, and I should think you could 
> control the stiffness to a greater degree. Also, might the rib shape tend 
> to last longer? Has this been explored previously?
> > >
> > >Terry Farrell
> > >  
> > >
> > >
> > 
> > 
> > Go Get It!
> > Send FREE Valentine eCards with Lycos Greetings
> > http://greetings.lycos.com
> 


---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/9d/e6/9e/55/attachment.htm

---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--