OK, here goes. Why is there a bottom in benches. To hold music, yes, but more importantly to add to the structural rigidity of the bench. Without a bench bottom solidly attached, all the destroying forces are working on the mortises holding the legs to the rails or the corner bracket attachment screws trying to split out the rails. The first thing I do is to reach down and check all 4 sides of the bottom on any bench I sit on. If any are loose I say to the client, You did know your bench bottom is coming out, didn't you? This sets up the spiel. When I first started building benches I was cutting a dado around the inside rail of the bench to accept the bottom which would float in the space. This looked really good but added nothing to the rigidity scenario. I have come now to make all bottoms to fit in a rabbet cut out of the bottom of the rails. I remove the old bottom, which 9 out of 10 times is 1/8" Masonite stapled on. This is doomed to fail and almost everyone does this, including Steinway benches, I replaced 1 about 2 weeks ago. I know that the dealers don't normally get their Steinway benches from Steinway but I have yet to see a genuine Steinway built bench, perhaps there is no such thing. I check the rabbet for broken nails, staples and anything else that would screw up my saw blade and recut the rabbet to 1/4" thick to match my 1/4" birch, solid core plywood replacement. It is important that the bottom surface of the bottom be even with the level of the edge of the rail. I take the old bottom and compare it to the opening that it was supposed to fit in snug. I usually find it was cut too short in both width and length. I use the old bottom as a general guide adding about 1/4" on each dimension. The goal is to have no space between the bottom of the rails and the edge of the new plywood bottom. After rough cutting, I fine tune the size by easing off a little of the amount till it fits exactly. I don't worry about expansion because plywood is pretty stable as far as changing dimension with high humidity. I have a fixture on my old Jig saw. I use this jig saw, and old Craftsman still with the original leather belt, to cut out the places where the legs come through. It is important visually to have all four of these the same and this fixture controls depth, and width. With that done I test fit again. If all is well I put a bead of glue around the entire perimeter of the rails and place in the bottom. I have an electric nailer which shoot 3/4" brads and I place them about every 4 inches. This pulls the plywood up flush with the shelf of the rabbet and tightens all uniformly down. I then drill pilot holes through the plywood into the shelf, usually 4 on the long sides and 2 on the short sides, and I use #8 5/8" washer headed Robertson screws and tighten them all down with my square drive screwdriver. I pickup any glue squeeze out from the top and bottom surfaces and allow to dry overnight. In the morning that bottom is as taut as a soundboard which you can tell by knocking on it. If it were a new bench I would have refinished the bottom, both sides, to match the rest of the bench. On just replacements I don't, but if asked, I charge extra for that. Price is $75. for the replacement which I now guarantee for the length of my life. That bottom ain't goin anywhere, folks. As I said, I can do them in about 30 minutes once I am in the shop and it is good busy work that doesn't take a lot of brains, just up my alley. James Grebe R.P.T. of the P.T.G. from St. Louis, MO. USA, Earth Piano Service and Piano Periperals Creator of Hardwood PLTR's and Custom Piano Benches pianoman@inlink.com If I wake up in the morning, it WILL be a great day! ---------- > From: Dan M. Hallett, Jr. <dhalle@toolcity.net> > To: pianotech@ptg.org > Subject: Re: World-Class Junk of Susans muses (rambling) > Date: Thursday, July 09, 1998 8:09 PM > > Dear James: > > How do you design the replacement bench bottom? Would be very interested > to see a post on this facet of your business. > > Dan Hallett, Jr. RPT > > pianoman wrote: > > > > Hi Susan and all, > > Your good article brought out several things that have been problems for > > all of us. Consider case parts removed. There is no best place. If you > > lean them they can fall, if you lay them on the floor they can scratch the > > floor but also someone can trip over them. If you lay them on a couch will > > the client like that? I have one client that makes sure I put the music > > desk of her Yamaha on a rug not her marble floor. > > On the subject of taking off shoes: I am not the most graceful person in > > the world and I don't know about you, but it is slippery in your socking > > feet, downright dangerous. On holes in socks, I try to be as careful as I > > can, as that is why I only purchase black socks. I never have to worry > > about matching them in the drawer, I just dump-em-in. The other thing is > > maybe some of you did a lot of barefooting when you were younger. I > > didn't. I hardly ever go barefoot at home even in the bedroom. Another > > thing is that I find it painful to try to depress the pedals to use them or > > test them out. This doesn't even approach the problem of removing an > > action and keybed on the slippery floor. > > I asked one of my (Asian) used to be Oriental, clients what was the > > objection to Oriental and why Asian was preferred. She really didn't have > > a good answer in my opinion for that. I do not use "Oriental" in a > > derogatory manner but I can't really tell the difference between Korean, > > Japanese, or Chinese. Is that bad? To me Asian should refer to the > > continent and the countries that make it up including India, Pakistan and , > > others. Supposedly one of the complaints other countries have is that on > > American maps, North America is in the center and the rest of the world is > > equally divided right and left. I can understand that some. But then I > > asked one of these people how the maps looked in their country and they > > informed me that their continent was in the middle and the rest of the > > world equally on each side. If that is true, so what. > > On benches, one of the first things I do is feel down and see if the bottom > > is secure on what I am sitting on. I do this for a couple of reasons. I > > have a side business of bench repair and building and have found that much > > of the rigidity of the bench comes from a secure bottom. When it is loose > > it puts all the pressure on the leg glue joints and corner brackets. > > Tomorrow I am taking my second new piano bench bottom replacement back to > > the client. I install a new plywood bottom that I glue, brad, and screw > > in place. I guarantee it for the length of my life. I have gotten quite > > good at this repair and can do it in just about 30 minutes. I charge $ 75 > > for it and can do it in just about 30 minutes in the shop. That makes $150 > > extra this week above tuning and it adds up over a period of time and gives > > me play time with my tools and wood along with making a stronger bench and > > usable again for music storage. If other parts of the bench are broken, it > > just adds up the total to repair. To me this is just as good as installing > > Damp-Chasers money wise and I enjoy the work. Any other thoughts on the > > socking feet slippery problem? Sorry to have rambled. > > James Grebe > > R.P.T. of the P.T.G. from St. Louis, MO. USA, Earth > > Piano Service and Piano Periperals > > Creator of Hardwood PLTR's and Custom Piano Benches > > pianoman@inlink.com If I wake up in the morning, it WILL be a great > > day! minute in the shop
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC