Roller is the European term for knuckle. Replacing the rollers is quite easy and achieves a better result than bolstering them with yarn. To remove them, slice through the leather with a razor blade and peel the leather back grabbing it with a pair of center pin nippers. Once you've peeled the leather off, split the core of the knuckle in a couple of places and then grab it with the nippers and pull it out. Clean up any residue with a sandpaper file. Use some type of arbor to press the new ones into place and measure with calipers to insure uniform height. Double check to make sure that the core is 90 degrees to the shank. Lubricate with microfine teflon powder and off you go. If you do one at a time you can realign as you go and save the trouble of realigning all the hammers in the end. You will need to adjust the blow distance and let-off when you're done. You should be able to do the whole job in 3-4 hours. David Love ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Goodale" <rrg@unlv.edu> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: March 13, 2002 9:11 PM Subject: Re: Flat rollers > Hmmmmm, amateur night. Okay, fair enough. > > The "rollers" are called "knuckles", and yes they supposed to be round. > There is a popular remedial repair that I have recently become a big > fan of, that being to weave yarn into the core felt to bolster it up and > make it round again, (or at least somewhat round). You can lightly sand > the leather to remove much of the grooving. Regulation will be required. > That of course is another subject. I'm sure many members of this list > are just dying to hop in and continue this discussion. > > Rob Goodale, RPT > Las Vegas, NV > > > > Gerald Posey wrote: > > >All the rollers on my hammers are flattened and/or grooved. Is this a > >serious problem? Is there a fix besides replacement? This is my own piano > >(Heintzman Baby Grand) that I'm working on as a hobby. > >Thanks, > >Gerald > > > > >
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