missing Steinway nose shim

[Delwin D Fandrich]

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Foster" <pno2nr@hotmail.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: November 23, 2001 2:03 PM
Subject: missing Steinway nose shim


....after
> replacing the pinblock, recapping the bridges and setting new bearing, I
> find there is a gap of about 3/16”.  I am assuming that all these pianos
> originally had shims and that I should make a replacement.

Most of them had shims, or wedges. I've encountered just one (I think a
Model M) that may not have had a wedge. With the plate in place there was no
room for one. Other than than I've rebuilt two (I think) pianos that came in
without wedges (one was a Steinway, the other was something else). The
Steinway plates are typically a bit on the light side which is just fine as
long as some stress from the string load is coupled down through the horn,
past the wedge and on to the rim braces. Otherwise I'd worry about the plate
breaking, not to mentions the overall instability of the thing. Go ahead,
make a wedge and stick it in there.


>
> Can anyone offer
> some suggestions about the best material to use to fashion one?  That is,
> could I just take an old plate screw and grind down its shank to
appropriate
> dimensions, or is there a better way?

Visit your local hardware store and pick up a length of 3/8" x 3/8" square
steel rod. It's cheap and you'll have enough stock to make a couple of dozen
wedges.


>
> As a side note, I wonder about the stress this imbalance placed on the
> plate/rim/belly structure over the years.  Significant or inconsequential?

Who knows? What you do know is where the thing is today. That's where I'd
leave it.

Del