>Doesn't anyone use a good hygrometer? Do y'all just stick a board in the >oven until it is light brown and slightly crisp? Or can you make it pop up >at the proper time? Maybe one of those little pop-up buttons like on a >Butterball? > >Terry Farrell How "good" is "good", and how critical is absolute accuracy to your purpose and process? No two pieces of wood are going to react quite the same to humidity changes, so your chosen material is every bit as much a detriment to "accuracy" as a cheap hygrometer. You can buy a decent sling psychrometer for something in the $80-$100 range and use it as a cross check and calibration device for your cheapie, for your own information and peace of mind. You can also use various saturated salts to calibrate. Try http://www.natmus.dk/cons/tp/satslt/satsalt.htm . As I said, the most effective way around the need for absolute accuracy is to build soundboard assemblies that are more tolerant of minor irregularities. I dry panels down with a little space heater using the piano as my hot box. The panel lays on top of the rim, the heater goes underneath, and moving pads go over the top. My little +-2% hygrometer sits on top of the panel, under the pads. A couple of days later (depending on the season), when it's showing 30%RH, the panel's ready to work. The piano's probably a little smaller too, but that doesn't seem to be a problem. If I was running a high volume operation, I'd have more floor space and build a dedicated box, but I don't expect the basic system would be much more sophisticated than what I'm using now except for controlling the heat source with a humidistat - and not shrinking the piano too, of course. I'd prefer this, since the panel could "soak" a while longer than a couple of days and more nearly stabilize, but I haven't noted any problems from the rather crude and inelegant way I do it now. But if you must have absolute accuracy, and that costs $40K, then $40K is what you need to spend. Ron N
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC