Buttressed Arch. Question for Ron N.

[Ron Nossaman]

> Are you saying that the rise and fall of RH and it's 
> affect on a strung up piano will *not* cause the middle of it's 
> soundboard to rise and fall?
> Fenton Murray, RPT

Nope, not at all. That has nothing at all to do with an arch, 
and will happen whether a soundboard is glued to a rim or not. 
Try it. Dry down a piece of spruce that's representative of a 
panel (as in the article), glue it to a straight rib, and 
stand back and watch crown form as the panel absorbs humidity 
and expands. Then ask yourself, how can it be an arch with no 
end buttress?

Ron N