<!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 6.00.2800.1276" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi all,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My friend and I were examining some = antique furniture, figuring out how we are going to restore it.  I noticed = that many drawer bottoms in several pieces were made of thin plywood and, = further, that the plywood panels were almost universally shrunken by perhaps 1% = of their original size (e.g. 1/4" over a 25" span).  Moreover, the greater = shrinkage seemed to be in width, rather than in length, with regard to the = direction of the grain of the outer veneer.  The drawers weren't made this way, = as the side pieces of the drawers still fit properly, and the bottoms have = shrunken out of their channels.  Either that, or the original measurements were pretty sloppy, which I doubt.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>How does this happen?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Perhaps repeated fluctuation in MC = causes the panel to expand, compress against the drawer sides, and then receed, whereupon = dirt and debris fills the void in the channel?  With each cycle, the = panel is compressed smaller and smaller?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Or perhaps repeated MC fluctuations = cause the different laminates to play off of each other, somehow causing = longitudinal fiber compression???</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>How???</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>And if I'm not imagining that this is = happening, what are the implications for laminated soundboards?  Perhaps they = don't crack, but do they shrink?  If so, does that not present the same = problem as with a conventional soundboard?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Just curious.  I don't have any = laminated soundboard type pianos, but I think it's an interesting = question.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Peace,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sarah</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>