ribs and stuff (was alternatives.)

Ron Nossaman nossaman@SOUTHWIND.NET
Fri, 4 Dec 1998 14:51:10 -0600 (CST)


At 11:19 AM 12/4/98 EST, you wrote:
>Greetings, 
>   Stephen writes:
>
>OK,  so I got some questions> (?:}}
>
>   I would like to ask, is that rib correctly regarded as only  a "beam"?  
*Yes, and no. In a system using machine crowned ribs, the rib stiffness
helps support the crown and string load. In a compression crowned system,
the rib works against the crown. In either system, the rib acts as a cross
grain expansion constraint to the panel.   


>Is
>there no "arch" aspect to the manner in which downward force is vectored
>outward?  

* No, it's an entirely different and self contained thing. Read the December
1997 PTJ, page 32; Soundboard Arch. 


>What is the centripedal resonator actually doing in those Masons? 

* Stiffening the rim and increasing it's mechanical impedance. It has
nothing to do with forming or maintaining soundboard crown. There may also
be a dim possibility that it scares mice away, but it's hard to prove.


>    If a board rises up when being destrung, is it because the soundboard is
>losing compression across its grain and expanding?

* In a compression crowned assembly, yes. In a rib supported system, it's
also the elastic recovery of the ribs. 


>  Or are the edges coming in
>with the case in the absence of downbearing pressure? 

* No, they aren't. A soundboard crown is not a conventional arch.


>Wondering on the weekend
>Ed Foote
>(also puzzling over the strangest stringing scale I have ever seen, can't wait
>to try it!)
>

* What 'cha got?


 Ron 



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