Michael: Thanks for the site. Actually, my favorite tool for doing the final leveling and squaring on the bridge root prior to recapping or on bridge caps themselves has been a Lie-Nielsen scraping plane. It's a substantial tool ($$$), but beautifully made with a blade that adjusts to different angles. I find it easier to control than a plane. You have to make other arrangements at the top of the treble bridge due to the position of the blade, but it works very well. David Love davidlovepianos@earthlink.net > [Original Message] > From: Michael Spalding <spalding48@earthlink.net> > To: Pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org> > Date: 7/20/2003 7:03:31 PM > Subject: RE: Removing bridge caps > > > David, > > My mentor/part-time-employer, Tim Dixon RPT, taught me his method for > re-capping, and I have done a few for him in the last two years. > > One tool that can make planing down a bridge cap a little less of a pain in > the @$$, is a scrub plane. It removes material much faster than a > conventional plane. Lee Valley has a nice one at > http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?page=46873&category=1,41182&ccurrency > =2&SID= > > As you get close to the joint, use progressively more precise planes: a > smaller scrub plane (or adjust the big one for a shallower cut, then a 10" > block plane, and finally a small low angle block plane. With the low angle > plane adjusted for extremely thin shavings, and well sharpened, you can get > to the point where you can see the dark brown of the hide glue joint > through a translucent layer of cap wood - just the faintest trace of wood > grain on top of the glue. At this point, either scrape or steam. I prefer > just scraping, since the steam raises grain and flushes glue and crud down > the bridge pin holes.
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC