Spinet Hammer Butt Springs

[John Ross]

Yes Joe, I broke a few drill bits too.
I now just use a small guage length of piano wire. Just cut at an angle.
I had modified some screwdriver tips, but never got consistent results.
John M. Ross
Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
jrpiano at win.eastlink.ca
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joseph Garrett" <joegarrett at earthlink.net>
To: "pianotech" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, November 11, 2006 3:40 PM
Subject: Re: Spinet Hammer Butt Springs


> John Ross said: "I have found that drilling an extra hole in the slot, and
> threading the end
> of the wire into it, and snugging up, really helps secure the wire in the
> slot.
> Trying to just bend, and push it into the slot, doesn't work as well.
>
>
> John,
> I'm glad you brought that up! It's a real pain to drill those iddy-biddy
> holes accurately. Many broken mini-drill bits later, I found that, if you
> tug on the spring tail and then make the bend, into the slot....That'll
> hold them sufficiently...However, a neat little tool that will "seat" 
> those
> puppies, is a wide blade screwdriver with an indentation in the end of the
> blade. A couple of strokes with a jeweler's  triangle file will suffice.
> Get the tail in the indentation and tap the tail into the slot. Works
> great. Of course, after you've seated all of them, then it's time to
> slather the rail with hot hide glue and install the Spring Rail Felt. That
> will hold them...Permanently.
> Regards,
>
> Joseph Garrett, R.P.T.
> Captain, Tool Police
> Squares R I
>
>