foster12
Member
Opening post by foster12
Posts
376
City
Milano
June 1, 2025, 13:38
(Rome time)
Good morning, yesterday while performing maintenance on my piano I realized that three soundboard ribs have a thin crack. Upright piano from 1981.
It has probably always been there and I never noticed it. In your opinion:
1) "Leave the world as it is" and don't intervene? (There are three and they are in the seventh octave where I believe there is more tension).
2) Can a weld be done? Does soldering with tin help at all? (A layman's question).
3) If one of those ribs were to break, does everything have to be thrown away?
pianoexpert
Moderator
Reply 2 by pianoexpert
Posts
3,876
City
rocca di papa
June 1, 2025, 15:54
(Rome time)
That is a cast iron frame pin. The soundboard doesn't fit. For now, it holds. If it should break, a technician can replace it. The frame has been resprayed and the pins that should be chrome-plated have also been painted. These pins have their own specific size and length. One could try to carefully fill the gap (with a syringe) with two-component epoxy glue
foster12
Member
Reply 3 by foster12
Posts
376
City
Milano
June 5, 2025, 13:43
(Rome time)
Good morning maestro, I saw that the pins for the frame in question can be found on the market for a few euros. Let's see how much they will hold.
M
martello
Member
Reply 4 by martello
Posts
18
August 3, 2026, 21:50
(Rome time)
Good morning... as far as I know, the idea of using tin is definitely risky; it could cause worse damage to the frame.
Perhaps it is really better to wait and monitor the situation... as long as the piano remains stable.
