<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3132" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ah yes, now I remember. Good to hear from you.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The main advantage to using laminated ribs is material uniformity/consistency. Obviously, wood is a natural product and each species has physical characteristics that fall into a range, but individual examples of the same species are going to have different strength (MOE) characteristics. Aside from general differences, such as grain orientation and density, unseen internal defects can drastically affect the physical properties of a solid rib.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Laminating the rib simply reduces the variation in physical properties found from rib to rib. I maintain a pretty tall stack of 3 to 5mm-thick laminations from a bunch of different boards. When I choose the laminations to build a rib slab, I purposely choose pieces of wood that appear to have originated from different boards. That way each rib I build is an average of all the boards the individual laminations were cut from - again, a more consistent and therefore predictable product.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Also, the process of cutting the thin laminations does a pretty good job of revealing any small defects in the wood. You'd be surprised at how many little knots and insect damage scars lurk inside small pieces of spruce - pieces often about the size of a piano soundboard rib!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ever wonder why with two otherwise identical pianos, one has a collapsed soundboard and the other one works great? Obviously, some wood failed somewhere on one of the pianos and didn't on the other. Hidden defects in ribs can play a role in such failure.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>That's a long-winded way to state: laminated ribs have more consistent and predictable physical properties than solid ribs.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I sell custom laminated ribs made to order. If you'd like to try a set of laminated ribs on a soundboard before tooling up to build them yourself, let me make you a set and you can get a feel for them first-hand - and then decide if you want to tool up.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I apologize for being hard to reach by phone - I know I can be lax with phone response. Email is always the best way to contact me. I'm pretty faithful about checking my email a couple times a day. I'd be happy to tell you what I can about Sitka (panels?)</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Farrell Piano</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><A href="http://www.farrellpiano.com">www.farrellpiano.com</A></FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><SPAN class=093231015-06072007><STRONG><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" color=#0000ff size=2>I try to call you several time but nobody has answered to me. ( about sitka)</FONT></STRONG></SPAN></DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"> </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=093231015-06072007><STRONG><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></STRONG></SPAN></DIV><SPAN class=093231015-06072007><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" color=#0000ff size=2><STRONG>I meet you in occasion of the mitting with Del ... some month ago </STRONG></FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=093231015-06072007><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" color=#0000ff size=2><STRONG>and  just  I decided  to change system.</STRONG></FONT> </SPAN></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=093231015-06072007><STRONG><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></STRONG></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT size=2><STRONG><FONT face="Bookman Old Style"><FONT color=#0000ff><SPAN class=093231015-06072007>I still not decide what it's better, to cut the ribs whit router</SPAN> <SPAN class=093231015-06072007>or to laminate them. (?????)</SPAN></FONT></FONT></STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT size=2><STRONG><FONT face="Bookman Old Style"><FONT color=#0000ff><SPAN class=093231015-06072007></SPAN></FONT></FONT></STRONG></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT size=2><STRONG><FONT face="Bookman Old Style"><FONT color=#0000ff><SPAN class=093231015-06072007>Thanks again </SPAN></FONT></FONT></STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT size=2><STRONG><FONT face="Bookman Old Style"><FONT color=#0000ff><SPAN class=093231015-06072007></SPAN></FONT></FONT></STRONG></FONT> </DIV> <DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT size=2><STRONG><FONT face="Bookman Old Style"><FONT color=#0000ff><SPAN class=093231015-06072007></SPAN></FONT></FONT></STRONG>Marco De Lellis<BR>Piano Workshop Inc.</DIV></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>