Everett Pinblock Repair

[Lonnie Young]

Jeff,

I've done them before without lowering the pitch.  I used to never think
that pressure bar screws could be tightened with out lowering the pitch
until I saw a worker do it in the Wurlitzer factory were I used to work. Of
course the pitch then had to be lowered anyway!

I also found out by accident a trick for tightening the bolts.  One day a
coworker and I were working on one of these projects and he began to tap on
the head of the bolt with a hammer while I was tightening the nut.  Every
time he hit the bolt I was able to get an extra 1/4 turn on the nut.  I know
it sounds crazy but it worked.  We pulled all the gap out.  Which by the way
won't hurt a thing if it does not completely close the crack as long as it
is stable.  Also it is important to either get the drilling chips out of the
crack or clamp it together if possible before drilling.

Lonnie Young
The University of Southern Miss
Hattiesburg, MS
 -----Original Message-----
From: 	owner-caut@ptg.org [mailto:owner-caut@ptg.org]  On Behalf Of Lawrence
Becker
Sent:	Friday, January 25, 2002 9:36 AM
To:	caut@ptg.org
Subject:	Re: Everett Pinblock Repair

At 10:11 AM 1/25/02, you wrote:
>List,
>I've got a handful of old Everett studios, some of which have the pinblock
>pulling away problem.  These pianos aren't currently in critical situations
>and are more or less surplus, so they don't receive a lot of attention.
>But we're considering "loaning" some to other entities on campus for
>informal use, and I'd be responsible for maintaining them.  I could loan
>them old Hamiltons, but I'd rather keep those here for music students.
>
>Is it absolutely necessary to lower the tension to do the repair of
>replacing the pinblock screws with bolts which go all the way through the
>frame? or can one leave the tension up and simply clamp each section during
>the process?
>
>I'm trying to keep time spent to a minimum.  If I have to lower tension,
>that increases the risk of string breakage and subsequent repair, meaning
>more frequent trips across campus after delivery for retuning.  If it's
>going to be more trouble than it's worth, I'll just send a Hamilton.
>
>Thanks,
>Jeff
>
>Jeff Tanner
>Piano Technician
>School of Music
>University of South Carolina
>Columbia, SC 29208
>(803)-777-4392 (phone)

Jeff-

I have repaired a few of these Everetts with the separation.  After the
first couple, I thought to save time by not lowering string tension, but
found that the C-clamps I was using were not strong enough to close the gap
against the pull of the strings at tension.  So, I went back to lowering
tension.  The lowering doesn't take much time, and the piano was going to
need a pitch raise anyway, so I figured I wasn't out much more than an
extra hour.  Plus, I couldn't figure how to do the job without it anyhow.

I still clamped a section at a time, drilling out the lag screw hole,
released tension to spread the glue, then re clamping, installing and
tightening the new bolt.  (I just don't like drilling through wet
glue.)  Then on to the next section.  The new bolt holds well enough to
keep the gap closed until the glue dries.  Then next day, pull back up to
tension.  Good, stable repair.  There was a Journal article in finer detail
awhile back.

I never had string breakage problems, but I was extra careful with the
coils in the low bass.  After a couple tunings, these pianos are more
stable than they were before the repair.

----------------------------------
Lawrence Becker, RPT
Piano Technician
College-Conservatory of Music
University of Cincinnati
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