[pianotech] dowels and glue joints

[Larry Fisher RPT]

I’ve always enjoyed doweling a glue joint when possible.  Even an eighth inch dowel across the break can improve the bond if only from a mechanical aspect.  Recently however, this young man I mentioned earlier reported seeing a glue joint fail from what he considered to be the tension created by the cross grained conflicting expansion and contraction  ..........  or at least that’s the way I understood his explanation.  The object of discussion was a grand leg whose laminations were separating.  I’d welcome any additional thoughts or comments on this.

Isaac, I sure do like your idea of a hose clamp and some rubber hose to clamp a round or uneven surface  .......  French leg comes to mind.  

I’ll most likely continue to use dowels across the break.

One recent application involved a Lowrey console in a school where moving the piano across an expansion joint made both front legs very loose.  The legs themselves didn’t break but the keybed did.  After clamping the glue stuffed break I doweled the break from just under the keyslip with half inch dowel and touched up the resulting “dot” in the finish.  The customer was happy with the results and I got paid  ............  and that my friends is the bottom line!!
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