[CAUT] Sostenuto Trap Lever Repair

[Fred Sturm]

On Aug 11, 2010, at 12:11 AM, Paul Milesi, RPT wrote:

> Also, the half-rounded part that interfaces with the other wooden  
> lever
> seems to be covered with something thick and black.  Is this just  
> old grease
> of some kind, or is there supposed to be leather there and it's
> disintegrated?


Sometimes there is leather, sometimes not, sometimes leather on one  
lever and not on the other. Newer ones seem to have no leather. I  
haven't noticed a problem with that.
	There _should_ be a stop felt on top of the lever the pedal rod  
pushes up on, right above that bearing point. The D from 2003 I am  
tuning at the moment has a stop only between the secondary lever and  
the keybed, which is bad engineering. If you have a positive stop  
right above the pedal rod, there will be little stress on the levers,  
only enough to overcome the weight and springs of the mechanism. (BTW,  
this D has no leather).
	Glue should hold fine. If it were a last minute repair, I would put  
glue between the two pieces of wood, and then wrap with thread, many  
times around (50 or so), making sure the ends of the thread are  
smeared with glue so it doesn't unwind. Pull it tight, and it will  
clamp the wood, and the strength of all those windings together will  
be plenty to hold while the glue sets. It will also reinforce the joint.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
fssturm at unm.edu
"I am only interested in music that is better than it can be played."  
Schnabel