<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16441" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  HI JD</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  Oh I love this stuff.  I'd love to see these pianos. From your description it sound as if they have crowned ribs.  Any cracks...ridges etc? This is how we learn important things.  Pianos that have held up in climates such as yours without benefit of modern climate control.  You know...what do I know?</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  The radii you describe are new board values. Fantastic. report back on the end result sometime.</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  Also so the angular deflections are of the utmost interest.</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  Dale</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  </EM></STRONG></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>At 10:59 am -0400 9/5/07, Erwinspiano@aol.com wrote:<BR><BR>>   On another note concerning the wooden gauges. I recently had a <BR>>1966 BB Mason & Hamilin.....  With no compression ridges or cracks & <BR>>only exposed to the beautiful CA climate for 40 yrs & with a church <BR>>building around it to buffer any humidity effects, this pianos belly <BR><FONT size=3><STRONG><EM>>is pristine...</EM></STRONG></FONT><BR><BR>Hello Dale,<BR><BR>I read your message on returning from some experimentation and <BR>measuring of my current main project.  This is a piano that has lived <BR>in the glorious English climate for 140 years, for the last 12 of <BR>which it has been on its side unstrung in a breeze-block garage or a <BR>barn with no sort of climate or temperature control winter and <BR>summer.  I have two of these and the one in question is to receive an <BR>experimental soundboard, despite the fact that the original board is <BR>perfect in every way.<BR><BR>I did some rough measurements of the crown of this board this <BR>afternoon at each of the 12 ribs and discover that the average <BR>curvature has a radius of 45 feet and ranges from 60 feet at the <BR>central ribs to 20 feet at the outsides.  The underside of the ribs <BR>are perfectly straight, since it was established English practice to <BR>plane the ribs straight after the crown had been produced.<BR><BR>So far as I can tell there has been no deterioration of the condition <BR>of this board (or that of the piano's twin) in 140 years of neglect <BR>of anything to do with climate.<BR><BR>I shall soon be taking measurements from the twin, which is unstrung <BR>and still has the frame in to see what the angular deflections are. <BR>I rarely bother to measure these before I unstring a piano since they <BR>would normally tell me nothing very useful.<BR><BR>As to your M & H, I think I'd leave it as it is, as I think you will, <BR>unless you think awesome is not good enough! :-)<BR><BR>JD<BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's free at <A title="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" href="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" target="_blank">AOL.com</A>. </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>