Hammer Butt Alignment

[Avery Todd]

Ted,

   Thanks for the further clarification. I wasn't too clear about that
either and thanks for taking the time to write the original post. Also,
thanks to
all the others who responded. There were some very good ideas that will be
very helpful to me and maybe some others.

>Dear Roger,
>
>So good to hear from you, and glad you are coming to Banff, when 'all will
>be revealed'. In the meantime, to answer your question so as not to keep
>you in suspence, the grooves in the wood strips are pushed on to the
>catches, which holds them in line with the catches of the end ones of the
>section which have previously been glued and allowed to set. Thus the
>catches are held in line  while the rest of the glued shanks set. Thanks
>for picking up on this as I really did not explain it well. I should also
>mention that there can be some variation in the height length of catches of
>differing makes. To cope with this problem, the grooves can be made a
>little too wide and shimmed to fit a specific size of catch with masking
>tape. We use painters' tape as it leaves no residue. You can get it in
>Colouur Your World paint stores. The grooves should be a snug fit without
>forcing.

   Not to start an argument at all, but your comments about the part names
aroused my curiosity so I checked it out. According to Merle Mason's book
PIANO PARTS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS, that part is variously called "back stop,
catcher, butt check or butt heel. So since I'm the one who originally used
that particular term in my post, I thought I'd put up a little defense. :-)
   Also, your "bottom board", in the same book, is referred to as bottom
panel, lower front board, lower frame (Laughead), knee board or kick board.
   So, on *our* side of the border, there's at least *some* justification
for those two terms being used. Personally, I've always thought that "knee
board", for obvious reasons, would have been a good name for that part. :-)

>By the way, I do not like to be pedantic, but the correct name is
>'catches', not 'catchers', this not being aimed at you, but because one
>sees this misspelling periodically, and we really should try to keep a
>reasonable degree of standardization in nomenclature. Such terms as
>'kickboard' instead of 'bottom board' betray the user as a dilletante
>instead of a professional.
>
>Please forgive this mild tirade,

   I'll forgive you if you'll forgive me. :-) Wish I could come to Banff
for the convention. Maybe in the future.

Avery

>--------------------------------------
>Date: 18/04/98 12:42 PM
>To: Ted Sambell
>From: pianotech
>Greetings Ted,
>               Another wise approach, as usual. I have always done the job
>from the bottom up, using a rubber backed  metal clamp to trim the shanks
>to the correct length.
>  From your post I'm a little unclear about your wooden strips. Is this
>engineered, so that the tail of the catcher rests on the lip of the groove?
>  I like the idea of slow setting glue, it gives some working time, I think
>most factories use your approach of pre hanging hammers, with varying
>twist. Pencil sharpening, or tappering the bottom of the shank. (Which I
>don't like) Seems to give some inconsistent wood tone at times!!!!
>  Remind me to pick your brains next week at Banff, I'll bring a good
>bottle of single malt as shared payment.
>
>Kind regards, Roger

___________________________
Avery Todd, RPT
Moores School of Music
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-4893
713-743-3226
atodd@uh.edu
http://www.music.uh.edu/

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