[CAUT] Leg support blocks- and movers

[Horace Greeley]

Hi, Ken,

I think Dennis is talking about the wood wedges.

The problem is that they are _supposed_ to be planed to fit, in 
pairs, after the stationary wedge is installed.  That is, most of the 
actually planing-to-fit occurs on the loose piece.

Movers are notorious for bunging these things up to the point of 
being structurally dangerous.  The only thing that I have ever found 
which slows the process down is to prominently label the loose wedge 
with the same number that is stamped into the top of the leg.  Even then....

In terms of the cam locks...while I think that the wedges are 
structurally stronger, the cam locks usually do not get detached from 
the instrument and so, usually, are not so easily messed up.

Best.

Horace


At 04:11 PM 7/6/2006, you wrote:
>Hey, Dennis,
>
>I have that problem here on one of our Ds - the one that's moved most.  It
>is an older one that has the cam blocks that hold the legs & lyre in place,
>like the S/M/L do.  Is that what you're talking about?  I had considered
>replacing the cams with the sliding wedges like the current Ds have.  That
>seems like it would be a more robust system.  If the movers don't have to
>loosen/tighten screws, they have less of a chance of screwing things up.
>
>Regards,
>Ken Z.
>
>
>On 7/6/06 4:23 PM, "johnsond at stolaf.edu" <johnsond at stolaf.edu> wrote:
>
> >
> > Hi-
> >
> > Just wondering if others of you have had problems with your movers
> > damaging leg and pedal support blocks under concert grands- and how,
> > maybe, you fixed/resolved the situation. They mixed up the wedge shims,
> > and forced them to the point that now (over a little time) the blocks are
> > angled and ripping out.  Unfortunately we must move some of our concert
> > grands way too much, but still, this could have been prevented with some
> > care.  I do my best to keep things tight, of course, but simply can not
> > supervise all the moves. They are a private company and we're in process
> > of researching a different option, but of course it's my problem to
> > repair.  The screws are ripped out bad enough that the piano can't be
> > trusted till something is done.
> >
> >
> > thanks,
> >
> > dennis johnson
> > st. olaf college
> >
>
>--
>Ken Zahringer, RPT
>Piano Technician
>MU School of Music
>297 Fine Arts
>882-1202
>cell 489-7529