Day 162: Bending the Bridges

After soaking the bridges for 48 hours, I pulled them out of the soaking trough and nailed them to the templates on a piece of 3/4" plywood.

Now, they dry for a week (until next Monday) when I pull them off and work on the eight foot end hooks. In the meantime, I return to my work on the jacks. I have a surprise coming up and I must admit I'm going to have fun watching the heads spin around and explode. You've gotta find the fun where you can, right?

Until next time...

Day 161: Making the Soaking Trough

I've spent the better part of the last three months agonizing over how to bend the bridges. The bridges are long strips of wood that get mounted to the soundboard. You can think of them as terminus points for the strings that run between them and the nuts near the keyboard. The distance between the nuts and bridges is the string length that results in the tuned note played for that particular string. It's similar to a guitar in that the nut and bridge on that instrument perform the same function.

As you may recall, I tried to steam bend them a few months back, and it did not go well. After speaking with several people about the steaming process, most of them helped me come to the conclusion that I had not left the bridges in the steam long enough. I then chatted with several instrument makers and the consensus seemed to be centered on soaking them in water for the bend. So, I decided to steam them again.

Then, I broke down and went back to Mr. Miller's eBook Most Excellent and jumped ahead a bit. For whatever reason, he decided to split the details about completing the soundboard into two parts, so I jumped ahead and discovered that he recommends making a trough from 4" PVC pipe by splitting and capping it for soaking the bridges a couple of days before bending. In the end, I used 3" PVC, capped each end with the lid from a Talenti Gelato container and cut the stands from a discarded IKEA cutting board (the old ones were made of joined beech and tended to warp themselves out of usefulness; now, they're making them from bamboo and they're awesome).

Putting a straight line on a cylindrical object is always fun. In this case, I clamped the pipe to the bench and used some scrap lumber as a guide.

I then cut it in half on the band saw and used Gorilla Glue to secure the end caps. I used Gorilla Glue because it's good for plastics and is waterproof once cured. I also cut the stands at this time.

I may or may not have exhibited irrational exuberance with the glue that is gorilla.

I let it dry for about four hours and proceeded with the soaking. This was on Saturday, so I'll take the bridges out on Monday night for bending.

I scavenged the basalt rocks from the front driveway to completely submerge the parts.

Part of this method requires me to drill holes for tiny, little brad nails I'll be using to secure the bridges to the templated form. I also needed to make pads from 1/4" plywood that will protect the parts from the nails once I commence the clamping process.

Now, we wait until Monday to remove the bridges from the trough and get them settled for bending. Time to go after another squirrel.

Until next time...

Day 160: Crazy Chicken Lady and a Bigger Bath Tub

Last weekend, I decided to get the soundboard completed. This means I would need to mount the bridges and bracing and get the thing glued into the case. In order to get the bridges glued up, I would need to bend them first. I had tried steaming and it just didn't work. I suspect this is because they're made of European steamed beech and most of the lignin in them has been set. I don't know this for certain, but I do know steam bending resulted in an epic fail.

I then chatted with a few experienced builders and they just about uniformly agreed soaking them and getting them into a form of some kind overnight was the way to go. The only water receptacle I have in the house is the bathtub, so I checked it out and, as you can see below, the 8-foot bridge created another epic fail - it's just too long.

So, it's back to the drawing board - again. To be honest, I haven't checked how Mr. Miller accomplishes this task in his eBook Most Excellent. I'd be willing to bet he explains his method somewhere in there. I'm sure I've read about it, I just can't remember what he says to do. Guess I have a little research when I'm done here.

I did, though, make some progress with cleaning up the shop. This is a regular task I engage in during this time of year. I clean up and rearrange things a bit, as well as tune up the tools. As you probably know, I've admitted to having a bit of a walnut problem. A couple of years ago, I worked just up the hill from Goby Walnut and Western Hardwoods and found myself on my way home after work indulging in the free boxes they would set out from time to time.

If you've never partaken of a high quality wood supplier's free box, just imagine the energy of a Las Vegas buffet except you didn't pay a dime to elbow your way under the sneeze guards. It's really an irresistible enterprise, one I found myself succumbing to several times on the way home from work. Well, it turned out they had thrown most of the wood away for good reason. I don't engage in the noble pursuit of marquetry (wood inlay), so my needs run a bit larger than someone who does. After stepping over, around and under walnut for the better part of the last two years, I decided it was time to cull the herd.

It was pretty astonishing to discover that most of the wood I had captured was simply unusable. I ended up giving Crazy Chicken Lady (don't ask) three and a half of these boxes filled with stuff I simply could not use.

This was liberating in ways I can't even describe. And it was a good lesson. From now on, should I find myself passing by Goby and the free boxes are out, I shall divert my gaze and drive on by.

Until next time...