Pesky pitman problem

[Ron Nossaman]

Hi Jeannie,		

Here is what I think is happening. When you give the pedal the "hundred
stomp test", you probably did it with full pedal travel per stomp. Odds are,
the owner rides the damper pedal when playing so the pitman never gets the
chance to "zero". It is pushed a little further off center with each pedal
stroke until it jams. The permanent fix is to make a new pitman from a
wooden dowel, put pins in both ends, drill oversize holes in the lever and
the tray, glue a piece of leather or action cloth, with a hole that fits
your new pins, centered over the hole in the lever, and the tray, clear the
old felt bushing out of the hole in the keybed (clearance) and assemble the
mess. You will lose your handy-dandy capstan adjustment, but that can still
be accomplished by adding or deleting thin balance rail punchings on the end
of the pitman. Now, reassemble the piano, submit the bill, accept as many
loaves of bread as you can get away with, stop on the way home and pick up a
nice Sauterne to wash the bread down, and have a very nice evening.   

Dang the pitman, full steam ahead... (gotta watch out for the language
police %-)  )

Ron





> From: Jeannie Grassi <jgrassi@silverlink.net>
> To: Pianotech <pianotech-digest@ptg.org>
> Subject: Pesky pitman problem
> Date: Monday, November 24, 1997 9:49 PM
> 
> Dear List and Susan, Newton, Dave, Bill, Theodore, & Dick,
>     I visited the patient again this afternoon, optimistically thinking I
> had the correct diagnosis.  However, seeing the piano right in front of
>me brought home the seriousness of the situation.
>     It does not have a pin in the dowel, as most of you thought (me,
>too!)
> but instead a capstan like screw, which did not seem particularly loose
>or
> strange in any way. It seemed to be adjusted to the right height It does
>not
> fit into a recess, but makes contact with a piece of leather under the
> damper tray.  The leather did not seem particularly worn or sticking in
>any
> way. There is not any lost motion between the top of the pitman and the
>tray
> which might allow sloppiness and movement.    .
>     There was no pedal stop mechanism under the keybed other than the
>thick
> felt to stop the upward travel of the pedal, and it was not moving
> excessively.
>     The damper stop rail could stand to be a little bit lower, but that
>is
> not possible with the present configuration, which is only a thin
>aluminum
> rail and the screws are almost to the top of the slots as it is.  The
>rail
> can't move any further down.  But it is not excessively high.
>     No children have been misusing the pedal, nor has anyone else. All
>the
> screws in the lyre and all the levers involved in the trapwork are moving
> freely and smoothly.  Everything appears to be running straight up and
>down.
>     So what am I missing?  I checked everything completely again, and put
>it
> all back together.  Played the pedal 100 times and everything is working
> fine.  I can't be sure it will last, because this is what I have done all
>of
> the other times and it failed.
>     I must be doing something right, however, because I was given a loaf
>of
> home made bread just out of the oven in addition to a check.  This
>customer
> has been very patient with all the inconvenience.
>     By the way, to "simply" remove the action to look inside there are
>14,
> screws to deal with.  What a pain.   Please forward any more of your
>ideas.
> My attitude about this piano is deteriorating rapidly.  Thanks for the
>help.
>     Jeannie
>
>
 Ron Nossaman