Restoring crown

[Scott Jackson]

Alan,
There are people who recrown soundboards. There are people who say it can't be done. There are people who say that you can try, but it's not worth it, or that it's not permanent. Probably the most vocal proponent is D.L. Bullock at www.thepianoworld.com who says:

"We are one of the few shops that even know recrowning of the soundboard is possible.  Other shops will tell you it cannot be done.  They will charge you an extra $2,000. to replace the soundboard with a new one.  Would that same shop restore a Stradivarius Violin by throwing it out and building a new one?  I think not.  Then don't replace a piano's soundboard."

Here is a summary of a technique used by Joe Garrett:
https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/2002-May/109890.html
Here is another idea:
https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/2002-May/109498.html
And one more:
https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/2002-May/109530.html

Scott Jackson
Wollongong, Australia


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alan Forsyth" <alanforsyth@fortune4.fsnet.co.uk>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2003 11:22 AM
Subject: Restoring crown (was RC Vs CC again)


| 
| Hi Del, thanks for your post. When you say "We do not typically heat ribs
| sufficiently to either give them crown or to remove crown once it is
| established however." does this mean that, say in an old banger situation,
| one could theoretically restore crown by heat setting the ribs instead of
| going through the uneconomic procedure of re-building a soundboard?
| 
| I once thought of steaming a soundboard in an old banger back into shape to
| try and get some oomph back into it, but then realized that the glue joints
| would probably fail. One day I will try it just for fun when I'm
| ...er...board!
| 
| Regards
| Alan Forsyth