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<DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> Hi Rick </DIV>
<DIV> Koniche wa (undisputed king of Norway)</DIV>
<DIV>Actually this doesn't surprise me. Since Sitka spruce is the strongest =
of
the spruces I believe drying down Sitka that low is possible with out damage=
if
it's not living in the jungle or missouri</DIV>
<DIV> Even on occasion when I've dried down panels of tight
grained Sitka for the desert clients to 4.5% EMC, I saw no
evidence of compression ridging after stringing or before it left my
shop even though my area is a more humid climate than
Nevada.</DIV>
<DIV> If your taking softer wider grain Eastern spruce or Engeleman the=
n
buckle your seat belt. Ask me how I know.</DIV>
<DIV> Dale</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><=
FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=
=2>Hi
folks.<BR><BR>Having spent the month of october at the Acadamy in Hamamats=
u, I
had the <BR>opportunity to meet a couple of the more legendary technicians=
in
Japan. <BR>One of these was a fellow named Mr. Takahara who had been invol=
ved
in <BR>design issues for the CF III for many years and recently moved on t=
o
<BR>work for Steinway Japan. You all know me and my interest i=
n
comparing <BR>some of the information tossed around here on the list with =
what
<BR>thoughts such people have whenever the chance permits, so I asked him =
a
<BR>few things about soundboards and plates. According to him every
<BR>soundboard panel meant for domestic instruments is dried to 4 % EMC
<BR>before ribs are glued on. This is also the case for several instrument=
s
<BR>being made for export, depending on the end destination. I was o=
f
<BR>course a bit suprised by all this given the very high humidity in
<BR>Hamamatsu while I was there. When I mentioned some of the concerns air=
ed
<BR>on this list about drying panels out so much he simply said it was not=
<BR>in his experience that this created any special problems for pianos th=
at
<BR>are correctly cared for.</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"=
>Erwins Pianos
Restorations <BR>4721 Parker Rd.<BR>Modesto, Ca 95357<BR>209-577-8397<BR>Reb=
uilt
Steinway , Mason &Hamlin
Sales<BR>www.Erwinspiano.com</FONT></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>