Richard, >Do I understand you to say that dowels even just through the panel >and bridge are not all that great an idea ? ... or just through the >ribs ? Dowelling into ribs is the big no no, but it is more critical as Terry Farrell mentioned, when the ribs are designed entirely to support the down bearing. It doesn't matter at all to dowel through the panel, particularly with a rib crowned board where the primary purpose of the panel is to prevent air leaking past the ribs. It is quite common for manufacturers to dowel the bridges to the panel, but again it is not a great idea to use large dowels. While the bridge mass helps to produce sustain in an instrument, its stiffness helps to spread the support of the rib set evenly across the panel. There is so much development waiting to be done with sound boards. Its a very interesting area and I'm looking forward to some of the projects we are undertaking this year. By the way folks, we've got an Australasian convention coming up in the South Australian capital city of Adelaide this July. We've got a couple of visiting experts, Ron Nossaman and Roger Jolly, presenting classes. For further online details on the South Australian convention, please visit; http://aptta.org.au/sa_conv_news.html Best, Ron O. -- OVERS PIANOS - SYDNEY Grand Piano Manufacturers _______________________ Web http://overspianos.com.au mailto:info@overspianos.com.au _______________________
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