Billings Flanges revisited

[Ronald R Shiflet]

List,
	I once read a tech tip in the Journal about *born-again brass*,
they called it.  I too have been frustrated with brass flanges and the
studs on the rails crumbling.  This article basically stated that brass can be rejuvinated by carefully heating it red and then slow cooling it.

	I took a brass rail, tried it and it works.  The brass is
rejuvenated.  If the little brass clips are split replace them.  If the
studs are falling off, then heat the rail.  There are a few things that
I never totally figured out and I am now of the opinion that when the
piano is that old, just walk off.  For those who care to experiment,
here's a new topic.
	The main problems were:
1.  Alignment
2.  Rail warping (when the rail is screwed back in, it goes back straight
but I still don't like it doing that.
3.  Rail oxidation.  I understand that if the rail is coated with baking
soda prior to heating that it won't oxidize but I haven't tried it yet.

Ron Shiflet
	Even though the brass was rejuvenated, there were other problems
such as alignment, etc. that never satisfied me.  I would be interested
to read other comments.

Ron Shiflet

On Thu, 02 Jan 1997 14:02:32 -0500 PNOTNR@aol.com writes:
>To the list,
>
>I'm rebuilding an upright action that uses Billings flanges.  I'm
>wondering
>how to go about traveling the new butts.  (I've never replaced an
>entire set
>of these)  The old ones don't appear to have any travel paper on them.
> I had
>expected the new ones (purchased from APSCO) to be a bit more precise.
>
>
>Can the metal clips be twisted, or should I sort them by whether they
>travel
>to the left or right?  I've got the action rails stripped down except
>for
>guide hammers (and dampers) at the ends of each section.  I screwed
>the new
>butts onto the rail, and they're all over the place.  I'd appreciate
>any help
>available.  Thanks.
>
>Gordon Large, RPT
>Mt. Vernon, ME
>
>
>