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Ed,<br>
This might be an acceptable alternative to pulling the plate and
re-capping it. The string I CA treated the first time around did
not make it self obvious at the next tuning so it is holding as a
temporary repair. I did notice a loss of zing on the couple I
treated but that was in a short period of time and probably the CA hadn't
fully set. I take notes on all my work so I'll go back with the
notes and check into those strings specifically next service. I'm
not enthusiastic about it though...I've done wood work, this won't
be fun doing. I guess a regular high bond wood glue will do the job
of bonding in the new wood and a file and razor to level everything again
without having to de-string everything and pull all the bridge pins for a
plane.<br><br>
Andrew Anderson<br><br>
At 12:31 PM 4/25/2006, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">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.<br>
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.<br>
Ed Sutton<br><br>
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<dl>
<dd>-----Original Message----- <br>
<dd>From: Andrew and Rebeca Anderson <br>
<dd>Sent: Apr 25, 2006 1:09 PM <br>
<dd>To: Pianotech List <br>
<dd>Subject: Dealing with bridge damage. <br><br>
<dd>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>
<dd>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>
<dd>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 is</i> only</b> a Steinway. :-X<br><br>
<dd>Andrew Anderson <br>
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