bass bridge replacement

[Fenton Murray]

Brian,
Doing a bass bridge with out pulling the plate, as in an old upright, can be 
tricky. Making the bridge is not so hard. Removing the old cap and 
establishing a good glue joint with the new cap as well as getting bearing 
and other positioning requirements right can be the hard part. I remove 
bridge pins, make a pattern and index it to the root or plate with bridge 
pin holes , locate screws coming up from underneath with magnets, grind them 
out, then route the old cap off thereby destroying it. Routing off the old 
cap with the plate in requires some sort of track for the router to run on. 
Lay new cap material on and determine thickness needed and plane or sand cap 
to correct thickness. Glue on new cap with screws and lay pattern over and 
drill for pins then notch or bevel as needed, or dry fit with screws, make 
pattern on the bench, then glue up. I hope this is more helpful than my last 
response, I though about my answer later and it struck me as a little 
condescending, sorry. Basic woodworking skills and machine set ups are as 
important here as piano theory, IMHO.
Fenton
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Fenton Murray" <fmurray at cruzio.com>
To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2008 7:19 PM
Subject: Re: bass bridge replacement


>I agree. Also, to Brian who is wondering about learning to do bass bridge 
>replacement. Take a look at some local woodworking classes and put a shop 
>together, since your already a RPT is should be a piece of cake.
> Fenton
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Farrell" <mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com>
> To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
> Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2008 3:15 AM
> Subject: Re: bass bridge replacement
>
>
>> If I may point out, CA is likely okay for loose bridge pins with the 
>> wink-type cracks next to them. The original post described "cracked" 
>> and/or "split" bass bridges. When a bridge is split with a continuous 
>> separation along several/many notes, this damage is well beyond a CA 
>> repair.
>>
>> Terry Farrell
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> For "entry level" pianos, a quicker repair would be to make a CA glue
>>> repair. This will restore the 2 angles of side bearing and the sound 
>>> will
>>> be acceptable. Turn piano over, remove strings from bridge still 
>>> attached
>>> to tuning pins. Pull bridge pins out, pour in gap filling CA glue in
>>> limited quantity (thick viscosity), immediately re insert bridge pins
>>> positioning  them at proper angles. Spray sparingly with accelerator
>>> after wiping away any excess glue. Reinstall strings and tune.
>>>
>>> For other than "entry level" pianos, replacement of bridge or cap would
>>> be in order.
>>>
>>> Martin Wisenbaker, RPT
>>> Houston, Texas
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>