At 6:16 pm +0100 15/2/07, StŽphane Collin wrote: >...Soaking with wet rags (water + vinegar and soap) possibly covered >with aluminium folies, so the humidity stays high at the joint. >After less than one hour, you can already try to put some weight on >the perimeter (I simply stand on the board with one foot... > >Maybe there is an even better way, and I will be glad to hear about it. Alcohol (meths, denatured alcohol) will break the joint in a few moments provided traditional glue has been used. I use alcohol to remove sides, wrestplanks, half-tops or what have you. The alcohol finds its way very quickly into the glue line and a pleasing crack is heard as it does its work. As the joint opens, feed in more alcohol with a syringe or eye-dropper, apply a little pressure and wait for the next cracking sound. In the case of a soundboard, I would start, say, in the middle of the bent side. With the piano the right way up, stand a length of 2x4 under the soundboard against the rim so that it is supporting the weight of the piano. Then feed alcohol down between the rim and the edger of the soundboard for 8" or so either side of the point where the prop is bearing up aginst the board. Once this first bit begins to open up, the rest of the job will proceed more quickly. For later parts of the job it will be more convenient to have the piano on its side or upside-down. JD
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