My first bit of bad news

[Robin Blankenship]

Michelle,
I always pre-drill the screw hole, especially in this sort of application. 
And, I make the hole in the piece that I'm first putting the screw through 
just a smide larger than the hole in the second piece. This allows the screw 
to act more as a clamp gives you greater control over the snugness of the 
resulting joint.

Robin Blankenship


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michelle Smith" <michelle at cdaustin.com>
To: "'Pianotech List'" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2006 1:13 PM
Subject: RE: My first bit of bad news


> First of all, thanks SO much to all of you who responded on this topic.
> I'll let you know how things go when I visit my client in a couple of 
> weeks.
>
>
> Last question, do you pre-drill the hole to avoid cracking the rib or just
> "get after it" with the screw?
>
> Michelle Smith
> Bastrop, Texas
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On 
> Behalf
> Of Marcel Carey
> Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2006 11:23 AM
> To: 'Pianotech List'
> Subject: RE : My first bit of bad news
>
> The one thing I don't like with the sheetrock screw, is the weakening of
> the ribs. You have to drill 2 holes about 7/32" in each rib along the
> crack. What I prefer to do nowdays is just use one small screw and a
> piece of flat maple. I drill a very small hole in the rib right on the
> crack and then srew my block from the front pushing that soundboard
> against the rib. When this is not possible because of the plate being in
> the way, I would use a screw right in the crack from behind, leaving a
> lot of it protruding in the back, use medium CA glue between the board
> and ribs and then just use plyers to pull on the screw toward the ribs
> and wait a few seconds for the CA to set. I then remove the screw. This
> way at least the ribs won't be weakened (never mind that old uprights'
> boards are already flat).
>
> Marcel Carey, RPT
> Sherbrooke, QC
>
>