bottom board

[Ron Nossaman]

>Agree with perimeter screws. I was referring to screws to hold pedal springs
>and pedal mounts. I've seen many of them pull up on pianos - you want
>something pretty secure to screw into.

Of course. Sorry, the coffee isn't working yet.


>Perhaps your birch plywood is solid
>enough. Maybe drilling a proper sized pilot hole helps also. I've seen
>plywood advertised as such - are the inner plies birch? And are they really
>from the Baltic Sea area? Not enough yellow birch trees in Minnesota and
>Ontario?

Google search it. If you haven't worked with the stuff, I recommend it. No 
junk core with camouflage face veneers here. It's the same stuff 
throughout, and multi plied. For instance, the 3/4" has 13 plies. It does 
come in lesser grades, but the better grades are quite nice. I've not seen 
a properly installed screw pull loose from this stuff, though I expect 
someone will correct me shortly. If in doubt, I'd CA or epoxy soak the 
pilot hole before driving the screw.


>Brace the bottom board or toe rail to the keybed? How ya gonna do that? Run
>a vertical piece of wood from the middle of the toe rail to the keybed?

Not from the toe rail - from the bottom board just behind the toe rail. A 
length of 3/8" all-thread with a T-nut on the bottom and three jam nuts 
with washers will do it. One on top of the bottom board, and on either side 
of the keybed. A dab of Loc-Tite, and it's secure. If visions of future 
rattly washers haunt your dreams, a dollop (sort of a double dab) of PVCE 
under them will take care of that.


> > The original
> > manufacturer of the piano didn't see the need to make the bottom board
> > flood tolerant, and I don't either. For some years now, I've recommended
> > that pianos be kept out of water whenever possible.
>
>Smarty pants!   ;-)

Well, hey, it's a reality triage sort of thing. I try to worry about and 
defend against the likely stuff first.

Ron N