I should mention, that though I built mine to notch laminated bridges, I ditched the laminated bridges and have used really nice quartered stock instead for a while. Everything about the laminated bridge was such a pain in the ass, that I much prefer the solid cap at this point. I also had serious trouble with the epoxy lam lamination adhesion, so the added warranty exposure on top of other difficulties simply was not worth it for me. I still use the notcher for the solid stock.
Instead, I'm real anal about bridge layout and minimized, consistent pin offsets.
Another reason I ditched the Lam caps is that I am not sold on Ron's analysis of the lam cap stability. I have a bunch of lam caps out there, and they are stable. But, I also have solid caps out there too, and they are stable too...I put my time instead into front segment bearing design, as I feel stability is enhanced by making the piano render in a tuner-friendly, transparent way.
I have pics of Ron's notcher, if anyone is interested
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Jim Ialeggio
grandpianosolutions.com
Shirley, MA
978 425-9026
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-19-2018 10:24
From: Jim Ialeggio
Subject: Power Bridge Notcher
yup...I use one...built it about 4 years ago, or something like that.
It takes power off the table saw. Bridge is mounted upside down, and you sight the notcher's kerf termination in a mirror. Works really fine, and aligning the piece is easy to sight and locate. From the pics it might be hard to understand how it works, the bridge being being upside down. It is climb fed, as it must climb feed, or the notch sides will be torn out. Climb feed is dangerous. I mostly never climb feed by hand, as the cutter will grab the piece and pull it into the cutter, out of control...dangerous both to the piece and to the operator. So the sliding table, on linear bearings, is powered electronically, being cycled by a automotive power window actuator.
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Jim Ialeggio
grandpianosolutions.com
Shirley, MA
978 425-9026
Original Message:
Sent: 04-19-2018 09:54
From: Terrence Farrell
Subject: Power Bridge Notcher
I recently constructed a power bridge notcher for notching my laminated bridge caps. I know that Del Fandrich uses one of his own design and Ron Nossaman had used one that he had built. I've been notching the bridges on two Steinways that I have in my shop for belly jobs while tweaking the design of mine.
Anyone else out there in PTG- Land use a power bridge notcher? Might be interesting to compare & contrast.
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Terry Farrell
Farrell Piano Service, Inc.
Brandon, Florida
terry@farrellpiano.com
813-684-3505
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