Great, For anyone else curious about Bill's method, here's an excerpt from my notes: . Ream the holes to an up-size if necessary, then vacuum again. . Apply one bead of epoxy in each hole, swabbing as you go, one octave at a time. . Dip each pin in epoxy before installing, then after two octaves, set pins to full depth. . Brush excess epoxy into notches with an acid brush, rinse it in lacquer thinner, then scrub the bridge top, cleaning the brush after every couple unisons. As we know, the thinner evaporates almost immediately, and the remaining surface looks like bare but polished, pore-filled maple. Nonetheless, I'm really intrigued by David's idea; staining the cap (for my own vanity sake, if nothing else :>) so have mixed up a dark mahogany dye for this one. I won't be able to go the epoxy route, because the lacquer thinner would remove my dye, so will his and Ron's suggestion of driving the pins dry and CA-ing them after. Mark Hi Mark, Thanks for the suggestion. I like the idea in concept. I have some of this bridge stock left over so I will drill some holes, apply the clear coat and then apply the thinner chaser. Then after a week or so I'll cut the stock in half to see what kind of penetration there is. I have often used the Spurlock method for bridge pins, but I wanted to try the clear coat because I would prefer not to use the epoxy while driving the pins - an extra step I'd like to avoid. I haven't tried the Nossman/Fandrich style cap as I haven't built a power notcher so I don't need a "driving fluid". The caps I have used are a 4- or 5-ply laminated maple. Alan > From: Mark Cramer <Cramer at brandonu.ca> > Reply-To: "College and University Technicians <caut at ptg.org>" <caut at ptg.org> > Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:12:19 -0500 > To: "College and University Technicians <caut at ptg.org>" <caut at ptg.org> > Subject: Re: [CAUT] install bridge pins? > > David mentioned sanding the epoxy coating. I've never done this, nor left > anything on the surface Alan. > > After surplus is brushed into the notches, I rinse and clean the remainder > with lacquer thinner, and it soaks in like an oil finish. That's the surface > I was trying to describe... nothing between the wood and strings. > > As for the barrier to moisture, I'm obviously relying on the initial coating > to penetrate as deep as it can (for about 10 to 15 minutes), then chasing it > with the thinned coat, which really dissolves and evaporates quite quickly. > > Again, it's not a layer on top, I don't really want that, the saturation of > the wood itself is all I'm after. If you haven't tried this method, I hope > you will, and let me know what you think. > > Thanks, > Mark > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Alan > McCoy > Sent: April 21, 2009 5:52 PM > To: College and University Technicians <caut at ptg.org> > Subject: Re: [CAUT] install bridge pins? > > Hi Folks, > > Last job I coated the new bridges and caps with System 3 Clear Coat, a > penetrating epoxy. Letting it flow into the holes as it would. Rationale > being to seal the bridges as much as possible. This was done after drilling > and notching. I put the pins in dry. First one I've done with Clear Coat. > You can watch as the epoxy penetrates. It does not penetrate maple as it > does spruce, needless to say. But it does penetrate some. The hope is that > it reinforces the surface fibers for strength as well as form a humidity > barrier for the bridge as a whole. The jury is still out about longevity. > The only thing I don't like about it is the glossy finish as I'd prefer less > shine. (Holes were drilled deeper and pins were not seated or filed. No > lubricant used.) > > Alan McCoy > > >> From: Mark Cramer <Cramer at brandonu.ca> >> Reply-To: "College and University Technicians <caut at ptg.org>" > <caut at ptg.org> >> Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:03:52 -0500 >> To: "College and University Technicians <caut at ptg.org>" <caut at ptg.org> >> Subject: Re: [CAUT] install bridge pins? >> >> Yeah, that's what I'm chewing on at the moment Jim. I'm drilling a new > cap, >> and have pretty much decided to drive the pins "dry" on this one, followed >> by a drop of CA at each pin. >> >> >> >> A year or so ago I did a test to see whether CA, or epoxy (via a heated >> bridge-pin) penetrated the bridge cap better. After drying, I pulled the >> pins then sliced through the holes on a table saw. For the life of me, I >> can't remember the winner!? >> >> >> >> I did this at the Banff shop, so maybe Bert can help out. I've really got > to >> look into those memory enhancing drinks! >> >> >> >> Any case, Ron Nossaman's suggestion was/is that only the surface matters, >> so the depth (both went several mm) issue would be a moot point. >> >> >> >> When a valid idea comes along, I think it's important to get some examples >> in place in a hurry, after all it takes a few years of seasonal cycling >> before any kind of responsible conclusions can be made. >> >> >> >> Mark >> >> >> >> >> >> _____ >> >> From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Jim >> Busby >> Sent: April 21, 2009 12:34 PM >> To: caut at ptg.org >> Subject: Re: [CAUT] install bridge pins? >> >> >> >> I don't know if this has been said or not, but the Nossaman method of >> drilling the pin deeper than normal and using a laminated cap is extremely >> effective in keeping the top of the hole firm (laminated). Using CA glue > and >> filling the hole may negate the advantage of the deeper hole by filling > it, >> allowing the bottom of the pin to touch bottom, which has some negative >> effects. >> >> >> >> Jim Busby >> >> >> > > > > >
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