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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=3>Some adhesives like Titebond are not very good at
filling gaps. They perform best with a tight-fitting joint and minimal glue left
in the joint. Epoxy and many other adhesives is gap filling and you want at
least a thin layer of epoxy to remain in the joint - doesn't have to be much,
but you don't want a perfect fitting joint and then apply high clamping
pressure. With epoxy you want a loose fitting joint (or roughened up surfaces)
and minimal clamping pressure - clamp pressure is not to "clamp" as such, but
rather simply to hold pieces in place.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=3></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=3>Terry Farrell</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 List</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, May 09, 2008 11:49 AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> RE: Epoxy Bass Bridge
Repair</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial size=3>Terry,<BR><BR>what do you
mean by "</FONT></FONT><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial size=3>you need to leave
some epoxy in the <FONT face=Arial size=3>gap. You don’t want to epoxy-starve
the joint."?<BR><BR>I found a source for Western System Epoxy handy repair set
including that filler here in Germany. Good to know, I will try it perhaps one
day, but not with that Kawai. I told the customer to ask a collegue who has 7
pianotechs working for his shop: 4 on master level, 2 with certificate of
apprenticeship and one apprentice, and they have a huge workshop. I don´t do
repairs with woodwork anymore, just tuning, small repairs and selling pianos.
But in this case it probably would have been easier to order a new brigde from
Kawai which fits perfectly without any adjusting: just installing and it
fits.<BR><BR>Gregor<BR></FONT></FONT></FONT><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<HR>
From: mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com<BR>To: pianotech@ptg.org<BR>Subject: Re:
Epoxy Bass Bridge Repair<BR>Date: Fri, 9 May 2008 08:57:04 -0400<BR><BR>
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<DIV><FONT size=2><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><BR><FONT face=Arial
size=3></FONT> <BR><FONT face=Arial size=3>I use West System epoxy
resin, hardeners and fillers:</FONT><BR><FONT face=Arial size=3><A
href="http://www.westsystem.com" target=_blank>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><BR><FONT face=Arial size=3></FONT> <BR>404
High-Density Filler<BR>404 High-Density filler is a thickening additive
developed for maximum<BR>physical properties in hardware bonding where
high-cyclic loads are<BR>anticipated. It can also be used for filleting and
gap filling where maximum<BR>strength is necessary. Color:
off-white.<BR> <BR><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><BR><FONT face=Arial
size=3></FONT> <BR><FONT face=Arial size=3>I've done this repair
numerous times with great success.</FONT><BR><FONT face=Arial
size=3></FONT> <BR><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><BR><FONT face=Arial size=3></FONT> <BR><FONT
face=Arial size=3>Terry Farrell</FONT><BR></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal">-----
Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: rgb(228,228,228) 0% 50%; FONT: 10pt arial; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial"><B>From:</B>
<A title=karlkaputt@hotmail.com
href="mailto:karlkaputt@hotmail.com">Gregor _</A> </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"><B>To:</B>
<A title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"><B>Sent:</B>
Friday, May 09, 2008 5:13 AM</DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal"><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>
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