Propping up side-hinged lid

[Gerald Cousins]

Paul, John (George and Ringo too)

You are correct in that Yamaha did produce a hinge with a modified pin to remove the top. It was found om the M1 and similar Disklavier units.
If I'm not mistaken the secret was to have the angled part of the (keyed) pin facing the 9:00 o clock position which put the inner cuts into the correct alignment for the mated hinge slots and thus removal of the top. in a straight up (12:00 o clock) movement. SOmetimes with a little coaxing to get the alignment exact. The learning curve on this procedure was short but none the less there was a learning curve. In some cases the pin "L" was facing the rear of the piano and you had to reverse the directions. There were a few I serviced in which another tech had tried forcing the issue and caused a bend and or rounding of the notch further adding to the challenge. I think Greg from Yamaha should remember which specific models this hinge was installed as well as if it is still being used. IMHO it was a very simple resolve to an often silly problem. Like many innovations in the piano industry, part of the issue was with poor educational introduction and instructions by us technical folk to transmit the knowledge to the masses on how to proceed. 
Hopefully now you know.
GPC,RPT       


Hi, Paul:
      I don't know about that exact model, but Yamaha 
  has a special type of hinge pin on some of their pianos.  If you turn it 
  in the hinge (not remove it), the hinge will come apart.  There are flats 
  ground into the hinge pin that allow this to happen.  Lift the lid on the 
  hinge side while you turn the hinge pin- you'll find the lid will detach at a 
  certain point.  Of course, if this model doesn't have that kind of hinge 
  pin, you'll have to move the piano away from the wall and remove the 
  pin.  I doubt that you'll have to unscrew the hinges.  But then, 
  what do I know.  Someone else on this list will confirm or deny 
  this.
      Paul McCloud
      San Diego
  
    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: 
    PAUL 
    CLEMENT 
    To: pianotech at ptg.org
    Sent: 09/08/2008 7:43:54 AM 
    Subject: Propping up side-hinged 
    lid
    

    Hi 
    all

This is my first post to the list...

I have a question 
    about techniques for propping open the lid of a piano with a side hinged 
    lid. I tuned a Yamaha M1A the other day and couldn't figure out a good way 
    to get the lid open high enough so that I could get my tuning hammer on the 
    pins vertically. I tried flipping the lid all the way open but it hit the 
    ceiling. And short of unscrewing the hinge from the lid of case I couldn't 
    come up with anything.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

     Paul 
    Clement
Certified Piano Technician
GTAtuner at yahoo.ca | 
    416.903.1871
Piano Technician's Guild Associate 
    Member

    

John M.Ross
Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada.
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