Terry,
I agree with you on all counts - especially your
philosophy. I certainly couldn't live with myself if I
did not strive to make each and every piano I restore
as fine an instrument as I am capable of. There is
simply too much involved in a restoration to avoid
spending that extra 10 or 50 hours it takes to "do it
right"! I was simply suggesting that we lobby those
specifically in the supply trade for better stuff, if
so warranted. "Pianotech Inc." would be most inclined
to hearken to despair over adequate capping materials,
methinks. Or, perhaps, some tech could do it as a
"sideline" and advertise in the journal????????????
What truly amazes me, though, are all the mid-
19th century pianos I have seen with REALLY NARROW
bridges (like an inch!) and not a crack on 'em! No
visible caps. No obvious laminations.
How'd dey do dat?
Del?
Really curious this time,
Thump
P.S. Has anyone tried even harder, tighter grained
woods than maple---like "Ironwood", for example?
--- Farrell <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com> wrote:
> There was a discussion a while back regarding some
> opinions of inadequate performance of commonly
> available hard maple. Several list participants have
> found that laminating hard maple caps yield much
> improved performance - less bridge pin movement and
> cleaner terminations.
>
> I have heard of a variety of adhesives used to make
> up the caps. Even Tightbond used on the laminations
> between a couple of Delignit blanks with a nice
> array of clamps would certainly provide adequate
> clamping pressure - nothing too fancy there. I plan
> to use West System epoxy. That will need quite a bit
> less clamping pressure and should work better with a
> slightly rougher lamination surface.
>
> I have not seen what a laminated cap looks like
> after 75 years, but I have seen what many nicely
> quarter sawn solid maple caps look like after many
> years - some seem to hold up, and others - even
> nicely quarter sawn ones - are falling apart. The
> Mason and Hamlin I am currently working on has a
> vertically laminated maple bridge root and a
> right-on 90 degree quarter sawn cap. The cap at
> every pin is cracked - treble (major continuous
> crack that you can pull the pins out with your bare
> finger), tenor and bass. If I can do something
> different that has a greater liklihood that my
> pianos will be better than that, I will go to great
> lengths to do so.
>
> IMHO, except for some cases (which I will try to
> avoid whenever possible), if a piano is worth taking
> the plate out of, it is worth making better than
> new. So that is my general aim. Some will argue
> "yeah, but this wasn't the best grand to begin with"
> - but aren't these the ones that we can make the
> most improvement on? There was a recent discussion
> on why some of us are in this business. Personally,
> I strive to make the best piano I possibly can -
> first - then I try to make some money off it.
>
> Terry Farrell
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "gordon stelter" <lclgcnp@yahoo.com>
> To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Sunday, February 16, 2003 9:02 AM
> Subject: Why make your own capping material instead
> of buying it?
>
>
> > Sounds great Terry,
> > But are there not ready made materials for
> this
> > purpose? Sounds like a LOT of work, that's all,
> and I
> > wouldn't want to try it unless I was certain the
> > results would be better than the retail stuff.
> And
> > you'll need a serious press, I'd think. Maybe with
> > heated platens.
> > If the stuff Pianotech sells isn't "up to par",
> why
> > not just petition them until it is? I'm sure
> they'd
> > like the continued business!
> > Am I wrong? What am I missing here? I don't
> mind
> > work, but this sounds like a specialized operation
> > best left for someone with plenty of costly,
> dedicated
> > equipment. ( Like a 20 ton press! )
> > Respectfully,
> > Thump
> >
> > --- Farrell <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com> wrote:
> > > Exactly. That is where I am going to start.
> Hopefull
> > > I can get a blade that will slice cleanly enough
> for
> > > me that my laminations can go from the bandsaw
> > > directly to glueup. I found this:
> > >
> >
>
http://www.tools-for-woodworking.com/product.asp?0=294&1=295&3=1294
> > > It is from Highland Hardware and is called
> their
> > > Wood Slicer bandsaw blade. It is a Super Sharp
> > > Thin-Kerf Precision Resawing Blade. It is
> > > specifically made for cutting veneers (not that
> I
> > > haven't heard that before!). I would like to
> turn 12
> > > mm of nice maple into a 6 mm thick cap of 1 mm
> > > laminations. We shall see.
> > >
> > > Terry Farrell
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Greg Newell" <gnewell@ameritech.net>
> > > To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
> > > Sent: Saturday, February 15, 2003 11:51 PM
> > > Subject: Re: Thickness Planer
> > >
> > >
> > > >
> > > > Terry,
> > > > I think if I were going to do this
> with a
> > > bandsaw cut only I would
> > > > be looking into different blades for the saw.
> I
> > > would definitely look for
> > > > more teeth per inch and perhaps a skip tooth
> blade
> > > as well to attempt at a
> > > > smoother cut. While our saws cut pretty much
> > > anything we throw at them my
> > > > experience so far is not one of terribly
> smooth
> > > cuts. More of an industrial
> > > > machine I guess.
> > > >
> > > > Greg
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > At 11:05 PM 2/15/2003, you wrote:
> > > >
> > > > >Thank you Greg. What a wonderful idea. I'm
> sure I
> > > could make that work
> > > > >somehow or other - at least worth a try. Some
> of
> > > my thinking on bridge cap
> > > > >laminations also runs toward: how smooth a
> cut do
> > > we need? What about just
> > > > >a nice smooth cut straight from the band saw?
> > > Something the equivilent of
> > > > >a 60 to 80 grit sanding job?
> > > > >
> > > > >I cut some sample 1 mm laminations with an
> > > inappropriate band saw blade
> > > > >(really coarse) and 9 laminations clamped
> > > together totalled 12 mm thick! I
> > > > >guess right around 25% air! Nope, gotta get a
> > > smoother surface than that!
> > > > >
> > > > >Terry Farrell
> > > > >
> > > > >----- Original Message -----
> > > > >From: "Greg Newell" <gnewell@ameritech.net>
> > > > >To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
> > > > >Sent: Saturday, February 15, 2003 10:41 PM
> > > > >Subject: Re: Thickness Planer
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > > I don't know how feasible this would be
> but
> > > you could attach the piece you
> > > > > > want to plane piggy back style to a
> straight
> > > flat piece with double sided
> > > > > > tape. Run them through together and then
> > > separate and you should have what
> > > > > > you want.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Greg
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > At 09:30 PM 2/15/2003, you wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > >Ron Nossaman stated that he thickness
> planes
> > > hard maple to 1.5 to 2 mm
> > > > > > >thick laminations. I have a 12-1/2 inch
> > > DeWald thickness planer, but it
> > > > > > >seems the thinnest it will plane down to
> is
> > > about 1/8 inch, or about 3
> > > > > mm.
> > > > > > >What planer goes down to 1.5 mm. Or are
> > > modifications possible to
> > > > > > >accomplish this?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >Terry Farrell
> > > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > >_______________________________________________
> > > > > > >pianotech list info:
> > > https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Greg Newell
> > > > > > mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
>
=== message truncated ===
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