Soundboard Molding 2024-05

The jigs shown here are homemade by the shop owner Mr. Jude Reveley. 

There is a piece of spruce between the soundboard and pinblock at the bass. Make sure this piece is glued in before installing bass soundboard molding. The moldings here are made by our coworker Joe Harrington and pre-shaped at the two ends by Jude.

The soundboard has a coat of sanding sealer. In order for the glue to work properly, the sanding sealer at the glue surface needs to be removed. Take a chisel slightly narrower than the bottom of molding, scrape off the sealer. At the tippy end of glue surface, use sand paper to match the shape of bare wood with the molding end. The soundboard will look ugly there if excessive sealer is scraped off and bare wood shown.

The shiny sealer will be scrubbed before final coating on the soundboard. For an easy sanding around the molding after the glue up, scuff the shine off sealer outside of gluing surface. The sharp corner on the molding against case-soundboard joint may prevent molding from seating snuggly against the case and soundboard. Knock off the edge with a sanding block or scraper.

Lay out the push blocks, shown on the first picture. Also lay out the clamps on the floor, making sure there are enough for the job. For most cases, the piano leg needs to be removed to make room for the clamps. A jack-in-the-box is handy to jack the piano up.

Run a wet rag on the glue surface of the molding. This is not necessary but I found it easier to let the glue spread out evenly when the wood is wet. Double check that the whole glue surface is brushed with glue. 

Place the molding, tighten the clamps with a ranch till snug. If too tight, too much glue maybe squeezed out, which may affect the gluing result. Clean up glue squeeze out with a damp rag. Let sit according to the instruction on the glue bottle. Different glue will have varied clamping time and environment requirement.

The treble molding is glued in the same way. There is excessive glue dried at the edge of soundboard. Clean with a chisel. Scrape off sanding sealer under the molding, and scuff down the sealer around gluing surface.

Knock off the sharp edge on the molding for a better contact between molding and case-soundboard joint. Cut off the area where the soundboard bind-bar sits, see the second picture. The treble piano leg is removed, too, for the clamp to stay.

Apply glue on the molding, put in place, and tighten the clamp just like the long bass molding. Clean up the glue squeeze out.

Several hours later, the clamps are removed and the piano ready for the boss to work on. He is notching the bridge with his favorite electric chisel. 

Many thanks to Mr. Reveley who has been teaching me piano rebuilding skills bit by bit with great patience. It has not been easy, at all. Today is the 20th wedding anniversary for him and his beloved wife. Wish they walk through life with endless love and care, rain or shine.