452 



Canadian Forestry Magazine, October, iq2o. 



too little surface area to effect the audi- 

 tory nerve. The sound board which is 

 connected with the strings through the 

 bridge increases their vibrating surface 

 many thousandfold. In building up the 

 sounding board only the most elastic 

 lumber can be used which will produce 

 vibrations with a minimum expenditure 

 of power. The quartered wood is cut 

 so that the ''season rings" run at right 

 angles to the grain, and the many strips 

 which go to make up a sounding board 

 are between 3 and 4 inches in width. 

 Those strips which have a wide grain 

 are placed opposite the bass strings and 

 those with the closer grain are opposite 

 the trel)le. The board is glued together 



in the rough, is al)out one-half inch 

 lliick, and it is planed and sandpapered 

 down to a finished thickness of from 

 i.bout a quarter in the base to three- 

 eighths of an inch in the treble end. This 

 is the work of a specialist and calls for 

 a great degree of skill. A series of paral- 

 lel pine battens or ribs are firmly glued 

 to the back of the sounding board to 

 S' lengthen it and also to give to the 

 board the correct curve. A curved maple 

 strip known as the bridge which is about 

 1 inch by 1 1-8 inches is fitted diagon- 

 ally across the sounding board. 

 The Plate. 

 As mentioned before, the back or 

 ■'rim'' is the foundation of a piano. We 



i 



These are the powerful presses in which the pieces of veneered wood are placed, after the gluing process. 



The piano case itself is trade of Ash, on which are glued four thin layers of mahogany or walnut veneer. 



The engraving shows a number of sections in the press. 



