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<DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>----- Original Message ----- </FONT>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>From: "Ron Nossaman" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:RNossaman@cox.net"><FONT
color=#000080>RNossaman@cox.net</FONT></A><FONT =
color=#000080>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>To: "Pianotech" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org"><FONT
color=#000080>pianotech@ptg.org</FONT></A><FONT =
color=#000080>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>Sent: October 12, 2002 11:09 AM</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080>Subject: Re: Bridge cap =
materials</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT><FONT color=#000080></FONT><BR><FONT =
color=#000080>Yes, except it doesn't necessarily have to be quarter =
sawn. It
doesn't have <BR>to be 10° either, 5°, or 7°, or whatever will =
work too. Most
wood isn't cut <BR>parallel to the long grain, nor is the long grain =
usually
exactly straight. <BR>When you are putting together a stack for gluing, =
you swap
slabs end for <BR>end, or flip them over, to get cross ply angles from =
the
natural run of the <BR>grain relative to the edges of the slabs. That =
way, you
can have the slabs <BR>all stacked together with parallel edges when you =
glue
them up, without <BR>wasting wood squaring them up after assembly. Grain =
just 3°
off parallel to <BR>the edges of the slab will make a 6° cross ply =
with every
other one <BR>flipped. Let the material work for you.<BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>I've used everything =
from 10º to
90º and have not been able to tell the difference acoustically. I've =
not gone
below 10º. Obviously, laminating the stock at something like 10º =
makes it much
easier to hand notch. I've not hand notched for some time but I don't =
recall
this material being much more difficult to notch than a solid wood cap. =
I have
always assumed the apparent density to be greater at 90º but have no =
idea what
this means in actual practice. These days, with the power notcher I just =
use
Delignit but with the new grand will probably switch back to home made =
laminated
caps. Just for looks.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT><FONT color=#000080></FONT><FONT
color=#000080></FONT><BR><FONT color=#000080>></FONT><BR><FONT
color=#000080>>Can I assume that with this process you end up with =
a lot of
wasted wood?<BR><BR>Yes, in the re-sawing and planing. That's why I'd =
prefer
rotary cut <BR>material if I could find it in less than $5000 =
lots.<BR><BR><FONT
face="Comic Sans MS">We still have a supply of 1.5 mm thick rotary cut =
hard
maple veneer left over from a large order we placed some years ago and =
have been
using that. At other times I've used up to 2.5 mm veneers (also rotary =
cut) with
reasonable success. I should think much thicker than that and you'd =
begin to
lose at least some of the benefits of laminating. This stuff is readily
available but, as Ron points out, at some cost. Most venders want to =
deal only
with very large orders. </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080> </DIV>
<DIV>><BR>> How do you clamp your laminations? I should =
think the
assembly would be <BR>> too wide for your pneumatic clamps. Do you =
just use a
whole bunch of <BR>> clamps closely spaced?<BR><BR>Pinblock scrap =
cauls, top
and bottom, and however many clamps look right.<BR><BR><BR>></DIV>
<DIV>>Then you mention rotary cut maple. Now how would you go about =
making a
<BR>>high quality cap out of that?<BR><BR>Just like =
that.<BR><BR><FONT
face="Comic Sans MS">Ditto to both.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS">Del</FONT></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>