Soundboard installation with hide glue

[Richard Brekne]

Hi Stéphane

Am I to understand you bought a pre ribbed and crowned board, had it 
shipped to you and then now you are drying the assembly out to install 
it in your piano ? Do you know how the panel was crowned to begin 
with... I mean exactly how all the crown was achieved ?

On a general note.. this raises an issue for those of us with less 
experience installing soundboard. Under what circumstances would one dry 
out the ribbed assembly for installation in the case ? All panels 
regardless of how crown was achieved ? Whys, whats, and wherefors 
appreciated.

Cheers
RicB


    Hi all.

    Just wanted to give the update of my alas bad experience with my
    overdried board.
    It showed a nice even crown at 40 % relative humidity when I got it
    from Ciresa (I don’t have their technical data yet, but probably
    tomorrow).
    When dried in a room with 36 ° Celsius and 20 % relative humidity
    for one day, the board went flat and even in some parts showing
    reverse crown.

    So I stopped the drying, obviously too enthusiastic.

    What bothers me now is that the board is now in a 40 % relative
    humidity environment at 22 ° Celsius, but it doesn’t come back to
    normal shape, after 24 hours. This sounds strange to me. It is still
    reverse crowned. Could it be that something irreversible has
    happened ? I can’t believe that 36 ° Celsius is enough to soften the
    glue joints between ribs and board.

    Is there anything I can do to save this poor board ? Should I wait a
    few more days, see what happens ?

    Best (and constricted) regards.

Stéphane Collin.