[CAUT] more on notching

[Tim Geinert, R.P.T.]

Jim, et al

Sorry about the delay in responding, I was on the road for a couple 
days...too many miles in a rural area, a trade off for not living in the 
bustle.  Two of the universities I service are a full 200 miles from me.

The fronts are removed, just no extra wood with them.  I have found that for 
the most part, the problems at the keyslip are not really any different when 
done like this than with factory keys.  Yes, if you use tops with fronts, 
the fronts are slightly thicker than the celluloid, but I really do not seem 
to have to shim more on these keys than others.  What Marinelli advocates, 
and I am planning on trying this, is to use seperate fronts and tops, and 
select a front material of the correct thickness.  For removing the fronts, 
I was always just a little anxious about the jig for that anyway.  Maybe it 
was my jig construction, but I was always nervous about whether or not I was 
cutting  exactly the same amount off each key.  If that would be off even a 
miniscul amount, the keys would not line up in the front and the notch would 
be off the same amount.  So...I started, again at Bob's suggestion, to 
remove the fronts with heat and a knife(an old hunting knife with some heft 
for control).  It takes much fussing, but that's the way he does it, too. 
Not that I need to do things excatly like Bob does, but it does make sense. 
The importance of the  precision of the dimension from the balance hole to 
the front of the key cannot be overstated if you ever need to have the 
keyboard replaced.  That dimension even has a special name in the key 
manufacturing business.

Tim G

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Busby" <jim_busby@byu.edu>
To: "College and University Technicians" <caut@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2005 12:30 PM
Subject: RE: [CAUT] more on notching


> Tim,
>
> How do you make thicker fronts and keyslip not touch when the tolerance
> is so small anyway?
>
> Jim Busby BYU
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of
> Tim Geinert, R.P.T.
> Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2005 3:06 PM
> To: College and University Technicians
> Subject: Re: [CAUT] more on notching
>
> I have been recovering my own keys for upwards of ten years ala
> instructions
> by Bill Spurlock.
>
> Very recently I had an extended conversation with Bob Marinelli of
> Pianotek
> about keys.  Since he manufactures keyboards, and because of my own
> experience with keys, I tend to think he gives good advice.
>   * Only remove enough material from the top to give a good surface to
> which you can glue.  Do not remove enough to make the key with the new
> keytop the same thickness as it was with an old thin keytop.  Removing
> too
> much wood makes it impossible to rescue the keys at some time in the
> future.
> Asked about the old adage that you needed to remove the wood so as to
> not
> change the geometry, he responded that the new blacks and whites are
> glued
> to the surface of the new slab of wood on new keyboards, and that rarely
> do
> the whites and blacks stand at the same height behind the tops anyway.
> You
> need to regulate anyway.
>    *If you are clamping the sides of the key when milling the surface,
> chances of the top not being parrallel to the bottom of the key is
> good(sides not at right angles to the top and bottom of the key).  When
> you
> level and square keys like this, the bottom of the key does not come
> down
> squarely on the punching causing a loss of power.  Since I clamp the
> sides,
> I am not sure what I am going to do to resolve this, but I'm going to
> try.
>   *Never remove any wood from the end of the key when removing the
> fronts.
> I used to do it with a Spurlock jig and cut the key to make the length
> right
> to accommodate the thicker front, but that is wrong.  The importance of
> the
> dimension from the end of the key to the balance hole cannot be
> overstated.
>
> Tim G
>
>
>    ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "llafargue" <llafargue@charter.net>
> To: "'College and University Technicians'" <caut@ptg.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2005 8:38 PM
> Subject: RE: [CAUT] more on notching
>
>
>> With increased UPS/fuel costs, I am now investigating doing these
>> myself, too.  While you are all on keytops.... How do you remove old
>> keytops and plane if needed?  Do most of you still use the rotating
>> plane chucked in a drill press or routers?  Randy Potter sells a $300
>> jig to plane the tops off, wood, front and top with a router.  Bill
>> Spurlock made his own that he sent me pics of.   Thanks very much.
>>
>> Lance Lafargue, RPT
>> LAFARGUE PIANOS
>> New Orleans Chapter, PTG
>> 985.72P.IANO
>> llafargue@charter.net
>> www.lafarguepianos.com
>>
>>
>>
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