Very nice, Fred! The single leg T turns the piano with less lateral movement, at a cost of needing more muscle and no intermediate stopping positions. I wouldn't recommend it for singlehanded work on heavy pianos. Your triple leg turner gives more control and would make single-handed turning of heavier instruments possible. I've made two blocks that are just a tiny bit higher than the dolly. Once the piano is on the blocks, I slide the dolly in between, and with a very slight lift of the piano I can kick out the blocks. Once the piano is on the dolly, you can usually fit a bar clamp or large C clamp inside the rim to clamp it on the dolly. Of course you also need to use appropriate shims to support the case and protect the lid while the piano is on it's side. Ed S. ----- Original Message ----- From: Fred Sturm To: caut University Technicians Sent: Friday, July 11, 2008 12:05 PM Subject: [CAUT] solo grand move devise Hi all, Ed's description of his moving devise inspired me. I have been mulling the idea of trying to do solo grand moves for small grands - just from room to room within the department - for a while. It is just so much hassle to arrange for a mover to do it, what with purchase request, calling the mover, informing everyone when the mover says he will be here, and worrying about whether the right piano will actually get moved to the right room. And, of course, there is the money involved. Anyhow, Ed's design got me thinking, and I had a bit of time and some scrap materials around my home shop, so I went for it. I modified Ed's design by adding a couple of "spokes" and attaching some rubber from bicycle innertube to the bottoms of the 2 x 4s. The additional spokes allow for the piano to be set in a number of intermediate positions, and the dollie placement adjusted as needed. All photos taken with nobody else around: the piano was quite stable in all positions. I decided to attach it to the keybed using those Kawai/Yamaha keyblock screws. I like Ed's idea of C clamps (having reomved the action) for a larger piano. THis is just a 5' Gulbransen I am hoping to see the last of in a couple weeks (going to a good retirement life in a dining room or something like that). ALso, as part of my minimalist moving design, the lid is held in place with a piece of gaffer's tape. And the piano is simply tilted straight onto a dollie (no skid, dollie kept from shifting with rubber wedges under the wheels). This was a very secure feeling operation, tilting onto the dollie and then raising it upright again. I am attaching the first four photos to this post. Five more will follow in a second post. Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/caut.php/attachments/20080711/97f5e9ff/attachment-0001.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 139484 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/caut.php/attachments/20080711/97f5e9ff/attachment-0004.jpe -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 150170 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/caut.php/attachments/20080711/97f5e9ff/attachment-0005.jpe -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 149035 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/caut.php/attachments/20080711/97f5e9ff/attachment-0006.jpe -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 141743 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/caut.php/attachments/20080711/97f5e9ff/attachment-0007.jpe
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