Brass Rail to Wood Flange Conversion

Farrell mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com
Mon, 30 Jan 2006 15:01:49 -0500


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This was a topic a little while back that seemed to spur some interest, =
so I thought I would follow up the latest. I converted the brass hammer =
butt rail on an old M&H upright to wooden flanges via the Bill Spurlock =
method. Worked very well, except for one thing on this piano - I don't =
know how many others might be similarly affected.=20

Look at the two pictures below. I think it is fairly easy to identify =
the nice new white hard maple wood that I added to the original rail - =
right on top and flush with the back side of the hammer butt flange.

Before I added the maple piece, everything went together well, except =
that I noticed a few flanges/action-centers a little out of line with =
the others. The top edge of the rail was a tiny bit chewed up in those =
locations and the upper flat part of the flange that mates with the rail =
wasn't even touching the rail - all of it was above the rail. So the =
only thing that was helping to kinda keep the flange in place was the =
brass wire - but that was quickly indenting into the wood flange and the =
flange was moving inward. I pondered a solution for.... well, longer =
than I care to admit. Then after putting two brains together (Phil Bondi =
and I - alright, maybe 1-1/2 brains - and Phil ain't the one a =
half-sandwich short of a picnic) - we also theorized that without some =
kind of good support on the upper part of that flange, not only can the =
flange migrate inward over time a bit becuase of a lack of support for =
the flange surface, but when that hammer strikes the string - we =
wondered how the lack of a stable/secure base to the flange might cause =
a loss of tone - kinda like having a hammer rail made of Styrofoam or at =
least flange screws being loose or an action center that is too loose - =
I know those factors can cause a lack of power/tone.

So, we thought that beefing up the rail with as wide a piece of maple as =
we could fit between the front edge of the damper flanges and the back =
side of the butt flanges would help to stabilize/strengthen the butt =
flanges and hence the whole hammer assembly.

I'm far from putting it in the piano, but I think this modification will =
be of benefit. Time will tell.

Terry Farrell

The photo below is down at the bass end of the rail. Just one butt =
flange is in place so that the added maple piece can be seen. The maple =
plug is an artifact of plugging the holes in the rail where the original =
brass butt rail was screwed to the rail.



The photo below is looking down the long axis of the rail at the bass =
end.




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