Hi Berley, You have some very good questions. I have two suggestions for you, relating to gathering information to answer your questions and guide you to doing a great job. One is to go to Bill Spurlock's website (http:// www.spurlocktools.com/), and download his free PDF file describing his router soundboard repair method. It should be at: http://www.spurlocktools.com/HTMLobj-430/sbrout.pdf I would strongly suggest his router shimming method if the soundboard has any cracks. It is very precise, it removes more of the damaged wood than hand shimming usually does (the failed shims I have seen were all very thin, leading me to think that wood that had undergone plastic deformation was left in place, dooming the glue joint), and it is reasonably priced. But more to the point of your questions, the free booklet gives you plenty of advice about the "hows and whys" of drying out the old board, regluing loose panels to the ribs, shim grain orientation, shaping shims, gluing shims, recrowning the board, trimming shims, and refinishing the board, all written in Bill's clear, detailed, and concise style. You'll find it very useful even if you don't end up using his router carriage and method, and it will answer some of your questions probably better than I can. The second suggestion is to get the PTG "Bridges and Soundboard Repair" reprint kit of articles. For some reason, it's not listed on the PTG website at the moment (is it out of stock or being updated???). You'll also be better off to get the "Pinblocks and Plates" and the "Stringing, Crown, and Downbearing" ones as well. Heck, just get all nine! They give a good overview of the skills and procedures that you'll need, and from several different perspectives. They will provide at least one or two sets of answers to all of your questions in depth (there are many sets of differing answers to some of your questions, which makes it fun!). In fact, they will probably answer plenty of questions you haven't thought of yet. At least they did for me. All nine are still available on CD-ROM at: https://www.ptg.org/store/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=46&osCsid=86effd48b87169cbb02fcb7360e5eeb7 If the printed ones are indeed available (you can call the home office to check), I'd get them instead of the CD-ROM; it's very convenient to take them to the shop and refer to them while working. I try to keep sawdust, epoxy, and lacquer away from my computer (I fail, I must admit...). If you do your homework reading from those sources, that ought to give you plenty to get started. I am tempted to try to answer each of your questions with a one-sentence answer, but they are thoughtful and important questions, and they deserve more than that. In fact, each one-sentence answer I could give could probably be (and in several cases already has been) hotly debated by fine rebuilders on this list (and rightly so, as different people have different perspectives and experiences), no matter which answer I would choose to give. You'll need much more than short answers in order to do an excellent job, which I commend you for wanting to do. Good luck with it, Joe DeFazio Pittsburgh > From: "Berley Firmin II" <firmin1 at bellsouth.net> > Date: April 2, 2009 8:41:11 AM EDT > To: <pianotech at ptg.org> > Subject: Re: [pianotech] OT Soundboard Novice > Reply-To: pianotech at ptg.org > > > Hi all, > Please excuse these questions, but I want to do the best job I can. > I am going to attempt my first soundboard restoration on a 1915 > Wurlitzer nickelodeon for my own collection. The piano deserves a > screw-polishing restoration. > To begin with, how is a soundboard crowned? Are the ribs > actually curved before gluing? > How much deflection from a flat plane is used. Is the soundboard a > parabola or a true convex lens shape, higher in the middle? > Can an old soundboard be re-crowned? > When making a new soundboard,why not use old soundboard wood? > > To most of you these questions are juvenile, but I truly would like > to know. If I have to, I will job this part out. (There is a great > RPT near me. [Lance Lafargue]) I have been restoring automatic > instruments for a long time, but never had to so anything before to > the soundboard other than refinishing, bleaching, shimming, etc. > Thanks! > Berley Firmin > LaCombe, Louisiana -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090403/d7615161/attachment-0001.html>
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC