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<DIV>There is a repair technic used in woodblock printing: cut out the mistake with a small V gouge, then cut a sliver of wood with the same gouge, matching the grain orientation, and glue it in the groove, then plane the top level to the surface.</DIV>
<DIV>If you pull the pins, you may be able to cut out the string dents and replace them with new wood and cut new edges to the notch. Little V gouges can be gotten in art supply stores.</DIV>
<DIV>Ed Sutton<BR><BR><BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid">-----Original Message----- <BR>From: Andrew and Rebeca Anderson <ANREBE@SBCGLOBAL.NET><BR>Sent: Apr 25, 2006 1:09 PM <BR>To: Pianotech List <PIANOTECH@PTG.ORG><BR>Subject: Dealing with bridge damage. <BR><BR><ZZZHTML><ZZZBODY>I've been maintaining a 4 year old D for this concert season at the local community college. Almost every service I end up working on the treble bridge. I've ultra-thin CA-treated the bridge pins to great benefit. Closer investigation revealed that the persistent culprits had been victims of savage "string-seating". Some were beating so wildly as to be practically un-tunable. In desperation (concert in an hour) I treated one with gap filling CA glue. It worked, but not without a price. I've been planning to fix this bridge damage with a hard epoxy, selection process still ongoing (advice welcome and hereby solicited). The string stopped beating but lost a little of its "sizzle." I'm guessing that the CA isn't hard enough (or hadn't fully set). Mind you, with the strings working in unison, I have more power after the treatment than before. I've since done a few more that were obviously damaged. I'm watching to see how they do long-term. I don't see how I can re-cap the bridge with the plate still in. Has anyone else tried to do this? <BR><BR>There is a little beating throughout this section and it does seem to be impedance related (heavy object in contact with bridge ameliorates it). Probably why there is so much bridge damage--an in determined string-seating by a predecessor. I am planning to do some work with that after I get approval to hang brass under the bridge. We have also discussed a "treble tone resonator" (Pianotek belly brace) for this as well. I have thought that placing a heavy weight against the belly rail here might be a test that could confirm whether or not this part would be a useful addition. They do want some audible demonstration of the advantage of the expensive part. There is a lack of sustain and power in the fifth and lower sixth octaves. <BR><BR>Overall the faculty is ecstatic with the improvement in the piano and I'm getting affectionate feedback that I must be nitpicking a little. I guess it <I>is</I> <B>only</B> a Steinway. :-X<BR><BR>Andrew Anderson </ZZZBODY><BR></ZZZHTML></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY>