Soundboard drydown for installation

[Richard Brekne]

Hi Terry...

I'll just take this bit here as it seems like we are on the same page at 
this point.... comment below it all


         > If the edges are strong enough to keep the panel from
        crowning, then it
         > would seem to me that they are strong enough to help support
        crown if they
         > were first asked to..... which of course is a different
        question all
         > together.


    Well, actually, that is what I thought you were asking. I agree,
    that if one
    believes that rim constraint causes crown, then a panel edge that
    resisted
    crushing would indeed be part of a crown-making system.

My point is... that  Ron's experiment shows clearly the end grain of the 
top half of the panel will not crush as advertised in some of the 
argumentation against the buttressed arch idea. Indeed... it is strong 
enough to <<buttress>> his experimental panel bit against crowning.  So 
the "end grain will simply crush" argument appears clearly disproved by 
his experiment.

Whether or not the soundboard actually behaves in such a manner that 
this same edge wood would actually exert outward pressure on the rim in 
the face of increase down bearing ... or as Ron suggests do the exact 
opposite... is another question entirely.  But if it actually DID exert 
outward pressure... it seems clearly demonstrated by his own experiment 
that the end grain would not simply crush. It would hold stand as it did 
in his experiment.

Cheers
RicB