<html> At 03:57 PM 12/6/2001 +0000, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite cite>On Wed, 05 Dec 2001 15:56:42   Ron Nossaman wrote: >I decide first and last fan angles and >positioning by bridge placement and case shape, and eyeball everything else >in between - avoiding those nose bolts and accommodating bass bridge >placement. There isn't a vanishing point for the fan, nor is it necessary. > >Ron N > Ron, Do your ribs fan out from a point on the bent side, like the ones shown on the sketch sent out by Del a couple of days ago?  Why do you feel you get better results with a fan arrangement rather than parallel ribs, varying their spacing and properties? Phil F</blockquote> The 1893 M&H Screwstringer upright currently in my shop has an interesting grain and cutoff bar application. The grain runs about 90° to the bridge in the tenor section (42° to the bottom; as viewed from the back) The ribs run roughly 27° to the grain through this section (69° to the bottom). The cutoff bar(s) form a sort of a tear-drop shape encompassing the main board/bridge area. I can send a jpg of it to anyone interested. I am hopeful to the improvement in tone that repairing the split rib and the loose board over the cutoff bar as well as eliminating the 0 counterbearing in the high treble. I replaced the stripped screws in the counterbearing bar with longer ones. Regards, Jon Page,   piano technician Harwich Port, Cape Cod, Mass. <a href="mailto:jonpage@mediaone.net"= eudora="autourl">mailto:</a>jonpage<a href="mailto:jonpage@mediaone.net= " eudora="autourl">@mediaone.net</a> <a href="http://www.stanwoodpiano.com/"= eudora="autourl">http://www.stanwoodpiano.com</a> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</html>