Plastic parts

[Joe & Penny Goss]

Hi Roger,
After finishing the total replacement of plastic parts in a M&H spinet I
realized that it might have been wise to do all damper alignment  before
replacing wippen and hammer assemblies. O:(
But the piano was not available at the time. Only had the action at home.
Joe Goss
----------
> From: Roger Jolly <baldyam@sk.sympatico.ca>
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: Re: Plastic parts
> Date: Wednesday, November 04, 1998 9:42 PM
> 
> Hi Joe,
>          I'll Take a stab from memory. Action rail has wips,  butts. and
> damper levers assembled.
> 1. screw action into piano. 2. set keybed nose bolts. 3. damper wires are
> bent. Damper blocks
> are installed to predermined level. 4. Minor adjustment made to damper
> wires by string plucking.
> 5. extra wire length is trimmed off. Hammers and shanks are preglued.
> 6.Shanks and hammers glued to butts, rough spacing is done by shank
> positioning. I use a slight variation in rebuilding, i prefer to install
> the damper blocks without felt, sliding bicord and tricord down the
string
> makes a better fit in my book. I install shanks with out hammers, then
> travel shanks no hammers makes it very easy to paper the flanges. I then
> clamp the shanks and trim all to the length, then install the hammers. 
>   On changing plastic damper flanges, I change the felt at the same time,
> it saves a great deal in messing around chasing bleeding dampers, felt
and
> flanges plus regulation of dampers 4hrs average.
>   Regards Roger
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> At 06:51 PM 04/11/98 -0700, you wrote:
> >Bob,
> >That seems a little slow. The most difficult thing was the dampers for
me.
> >Your idea of leaving the straps off is interesting. BTW does anyone out
> >there know the order and procedure of building an action that is used in
> >the factory?
> >Joe Goss
> >----------
> >> From: fndango@azstarnet.com
> >> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> >> Subject: Plastic parts
> >> Date: Tuesday, November 03, 1998 3:07 AM
> >> 
> >> When I posted a query for the time to replace a set of plastic damper
> >> levers a month ago, I got no takers. But I have seen some posts on the
> >> subject of plastic parts recently, so perhaps this info will be
valuable
> >> to someone:
> >> 
> >> I recently finished replacing hammer & wippen flanges, backchecks,
> >> jacks, and damper levers on a 1948 M & H console. Here are the
> >> approximate times for replacing various parts: damper levers - 12/hr.,
> >> backchecks - 60/hr., flanges & jacks- 40/hr.
> >> 
> >> For those who may not have tried this, here are some suggestions:
> >> 
> >> If you haven't invested in wire-bending pliers yet, do so. The
> >> side-to-side kind is the most useful. The backwards-and-forwards type
> >> can also be useful. The recently-available parallel reamer sets are
> >> great for a $12 investment. I have found them at Schaff and APSCO. 
> >> 
> >> Procedure-wise, my first step was to replace the damper levers. Take
out
> >> an old one, snap off the part above the flange, and hold it against
the
> >> new lever while you approximate the bend of the old one. Install the
new
> >> lever, mount the head, and do a finer bending to match the neighbors.
> >> Then cut off the excess wire. Next, I repinned the hammer flanges,
using
> >> the neighbors and the string cuts as guides. Chucking a backcheck tool
> >> into a power drill saved some time in installing the new backchecks.
> >> 
> >> I should mention that I removed the hammer rest rail, the hammer
spring
> >> rail, and the letoff rail before doing any work. This action had a
metal
> >> action rail, and it was more difficult to work with than a wooden one.
> >> Action screws don't go into a metal rail easily unless they are
> >> perfectly straight and match the threading of the rail. Before turning
> >> the screws in, back them up until they "click" into the right
position.
> >> 
> >> I left the bridle straps disconnected and the keys out of the piano
when
> >> I reinstalled the action(as well as leaving out the aux. rails). This
> >> left easy access for final regulation of the dampers, and for spacing
> >> and traveling of the hammers. Then I installed the letoff rail,
> >> connected the bridle tapes(making sure that the jack springs were
> >> seated), set letoff, installed the hammer spring rail and hammer rest
> >> rail, set rest rail position, lost motion, keydip, and damper lift
from
> >> key.
> >> 
> >> I think that covers the main items. If I've missed something
important,
> >> I think I can count on someone to spot it. Installing the action and
> >> regulation took 8 hours (there was key easing and misc. minor stuff to
> >> deal with, too).
> >> 
> >> This is a nice piano and well worth the effort. It's not easy to work
> >> efficiently enough to make it pay very well, but it can be done.
> >> 
> >> Bob Anderson
> >> Tucso, AZ
> > 
> Roger Jolly
> Baldwin Yamaha Piano Centre
> Saskatoon and Regina
> Saskatchewan, Canada.
> 306-665-0213
> Fax 652-0505