Soundboard Failure

[JCSwafford@AOL.COM]

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In a message dated 9/4/02 11:27:23 PM Central Daylight Time, 
jurjens@tpg.com.au writes:


> Do i try to clamp this up to reglue? Has the soundboard warped this
> much? Am i wasting my time? 

I've done many a job on "cheap" pianos like this with complete success in a 
very short period of time.

I'll tell what I do for what it's worth.

I'll just assume that all the ribs are completely detached from the 
soundboard for a worse case scenario.

I would use about 100 to 125 dry wall screws (these work the best for me) 
that are just long enough to go through the rib and into the soundboard, but 
not all the way through. Use a soundboard steel to stop the drill bit from 
penetrating the board by sliding it under the rib beneath the point where you 
are drilling through the rib for the screw. The diameter of the bit should be 
ideally the same diameter as the screw. You will be drawing the board into 
the ribs. Do not drill into the board at all - Dry wall screws are small 
enough in diameter to bite firmly into soft spruce or mahogany without 
splitting the wood, stripping in the wood or fatiguing the metal of the 
screw. 

You can drill about 100 holes one right after the other in a very short 
period of time in factory style - maybe 10 minutes or so from start to 
finish. Then use the soundboard steel to smear glue between the ribs and 
board - you might blow all the bits of wood and debris away from piano before 
doing this. Then insert all the screws by hand through the ribs to the board. 
Then use a power drill with a Phillips attachment to screw them all in one by 
one - you have to have a feel for how much pressure to apply to the screw and 
know when to stop screwing (usually the screw will penetrate the rib a little 
before it will strip in the board or break in two). This can be done in 
another 10 minutes or so. 

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