[pianotech] Aluminum Pneumatic Soundboard Press Reposting

[David Love]

There's no piece of wood below the top aluminum beam (which btw were I doing
it again I would have made slightly longer so that it extends farther beyond
the pins that hold it down for safety reasons).  Right below the top beam is
the deflated hose, then the rib, then a piece of soundboard scrap (for
illustration) and then the radiussed caul.  These are light but the aluminum
is quite expensive--I was shocked when I placed the order.  The dimensions
are 1 3/4" x 3" and the wall thickness is 1/8".  There is virtually no
flexing.   I made (I think) two 3', three 4', and one 5' lengths (I'd have
to go out to the shop and look again).  In retrospect I think I would have
made another 5' length as you need something to span the width of the board
on either side of the bass corner width without having to move one past the
bass corner--or at least make the one long enough to do that.  I tend to not
show the cutoff from the top of the panel so you need a longer clamp to span
that entire width.  If you are cutting the panel along the cut off bar
(easier for clamping when you install the board into the piano) then you
don't need the same length for the clamps.

Sorry about the drop in orders.  But if I were ordering premades of course
they would come from you.  Fine work!

David Love
www.davidlovepianos.com

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Terry Farrell
Sent: Friday, February 19, 2010 4:34 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Aluminum Pneumatic Soundboard Press Reposting

Thanks for posting the pics David. They appear basically just like  
mine, but aluminum instead of steel and wood - very slick, neat and  
light! It appears you have a piece of wood atop the lower aluminum  
beam, but below the panel - what role does that have? What are the  
dimensions of the square tubing and the wall thickness? What is the  
longest open span and how much bending do you get when the air  
pressure is on?

Those really look nice. 'Course, the down side is that now I see why I  
haven't gotten any orders from you for complete ribbed soundboards in  
a long time!   :-(

Terry Farrell

On Feb 19, 2010, at 12:05 AM, David Love wrote:

> Here's a reposting of the pictures.  I think the original post was  
> from my
> old computer, may it rest in peace.
>
> David Love
> davidlovepianos at comcast.net
>
> <P1290049 (2).JPG><P1290050 (2).JPG><P1290051 (2).JPG><P1290052  
> (2).JPG>