[pianotech] Bass bridge repair

[William Truitt]

HI Paul:

I will second Ron on the use of delignit as the capping material, with a
slight variation.  I've used the delignit bridge capping material that you
can get from the supply houses to good effect when repairing bass bridges.
I's a very hard and serviceable material, relatively inexpensive, and it
works well for these kinds of repairs.  If it weren't so damn ugly, I'd use
it for treble bridges in grands.

Sometimes it is easy to get the whole bridge off, and sometimes it isn't.
It depends on how much of the root is under the plate, and how much the
beams limit your access to the buttons and screws in the back. 

You will want to put the piano on a tilter and set in on its back.  Also, it
is much easier to work on if you unscrew the bottom board, it gets the
pedals out of the way. 

Much of the time I am removing the cap from the root.  Before doing that,
you will want to drill two or 3 pilot holes vertically through the cap and
into the apron.  When gluing the new cap onto the apron, I usually use about
5 screws to clamp it in place.  I drill those holes on the drill press and
countersink them.  Then, when I am at the piano, I index to the pins, and
center punch through my holes into the apron top.  After I apply the glue, I
leave it overnight before adding strings back and starting to tune.

I say go for it - no guts, no glory.  After all, it's only a 1935 Howard,
and you have to start somewhere.  Just take it one step at a time.  You will
encounter no lack of vertical pianos that will need this kind of bridgework,
so if you can develop this skill, that is more money in your pocket.  

Good luck!

Will Truitt

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Ron Nossaman
Sent: Sunday, May 31, 2009 11:28 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Bass bridge repair

paul bruesch wrote:
> Thanks David and David.  I considered recapping as it obviously would be 
> the best repair... but if this was in a customer's home (it isn't) would 
> that be feasible for a 1935 Howard console?
> 
> But with two votes for re-capping, I'm seriously re-considering... 
> (thankfully only the bass bridge is damaged.)
> 
> Paul Bruesch

The little cracks are no big deal, at least in the bass. A 
couple of passes of thin CA would take care of them. The 
divots in the bridge end are something else. That's ideally 
going to need some structure. Being a 1935 Howard console 
makes the choice of repair less clear. I've seen epoxy 
repaired bridges that I wouldn't have tried to repair, that 
were still together many years later. It IS a 1935 Howard 
console, after all. My choice, I think, would be to pry the 
bridge out of the piano, take it back to the shop, and make a 
replacement out of solid Delignit. It would probably take me 
less time overall than capping it in the piano, and I'd have a 
nearly immortal replacement - not that it'll come up.
Ron N