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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=3>Yes.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=AlliedPianoCraft@hotmail.com
href="mailto:AlliedPianoCraft@hotmail.com">AlliedPianoCraft</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech List</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, May 09, 2008 9:06 AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Epoxy Bass Bridge
Repair</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=3>Terry, is this the same material you use to fit
the pinblock?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=3>Al Guecia</FONT></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt Tahoma">
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5">
<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com
href="mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com">Farrell</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Friday, May 09, 2008 8:57 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A
title="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org CTRL + Click to follow link"
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech List</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: Epoxy Bass Bridge Repair</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=3>Epoxy repairs for a situation as you describe can
yield very good results. </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=3>Sometimes the
crack opens up a fair bit – you’ll want to clamp it back into </FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=3>position – not to clamp in the traditional sense, but rather
to simply position </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=3>the parts in their original
orientation – you need to leave some epoxy in the </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=3>gap. You don’t want to epoxy-starve the joint.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=3></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=3>I use West System epoxy resin, hardeners and
fillers:</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=3><A
href="http://www.westsystem.com">www.westsystem.com</A> My favorite for a
cracked bridge is #404 </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=3>High-Density Filler and
using the West System two-step bonding procedure described on the West System
web site. The following is from the West System web site:</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=3></FONT> </P>
<P>404 High-Density Filler</P>
<P>404 High-Density filler is a thickening additive developed for maximum</P>
<P>physical properties in hardware bonding where high-cyclic loads are</P>
<P>anticipated. It can also be used for filleting and gap filling where
maximum</P>
<P>strength is necessary. Color: off-white.</P>
<P> </P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=3>You can either push the bridge pins into
the uncured epoxy, tidy up and be done with it, or, for a neater, more
exacting job, you can epoxy the gap and then drill bridge pin holes after the
epoxy hardens. I have found that if cosmetic considerations are not paramount,
I apply the epoxy, clamp together until the wood is close to original
dimension, clean off epoxy squeeze out (acetone) - at that point you will be
able to see the outline of the original pin holes - push pins in place - the
wood will have been drawn together enough to hold the pin in its original
position - and then level off and clean up the little bit of epoxy that
squeezes out of the holes as you push the pin in place. Wait a day or two for
the epoxy to completely cure, go back and install bass strings.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=3></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=3>I've done this repair numerous times with great
success.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=3></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=3>And of course, on a nicer piano where the budget
allows, new bridge and/or new cap is preferred.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=3></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=3>Terry Farrell</FONT></P></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=karlkaputt@hotmail.com href="mailto:karlkaputt@hotmail.com">Gregor
_</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, May 09, 2008 5:13
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Epoxy Bass Bridge Repair</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>I crawled the archieves but I did not really find what I was
looking for: does Epoxy work even for bigger gaps?<BR><BR>I wanted to tune a
Kawai CE-11 upright yesterday but the bass bridge looked horrible: a long
gap which affected 9 notes. The gap started at the upper pin row and the
pins were vertical. Some strings rattled at the pins. The gap expanded up to
4 mm above the upper pin row. I did not try but I could imagine that I could
have pulled out some pins without using pliers.<BR><BR>First at all: I never
worked with Epoxy. My first thought was to pull out the pins, fill the gap
with epoxy and drill new holes for new pins. Could that work or is such a
gap too much for Epoxy? The bridge is made of one piece of wood, no
cap.<BR><BR>I was shocked about such a gap in a Kawai from 1992 (no grey
market import): no floor heating, no air con and no heater near by the
piano. And I don´t live in an area with huge differences in the climate.
Very strange. That damage is a pitty because everything else in this piano
was in a pretty good condition. But making a new bridge would be definitely
too expensive including transports from the second floor into a workshop and
back to the customer.<BR><BR>Gregor<BR><BR>
<HR>
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