Jon asked: "Has anyone tried to modernize one of these? jpg attached" Unable to open, but know of which you speak. First class, #1 ,POS, IMNSHO! I made a new action to replace it, in an 1867 Chickering, 8 footer. Quite successful, I might add. All was done with the help of Rick Wheeler, as a new key set was needed. The olde keys had a 1:1 ratio and not the required 2:1 ratio. Used old key frame, but with new rails. Action parts, (highly modified), were Renner. Hammers were Wurzen/Ronsen, (excellent tonal match). Back action was a Pratt Read, due to that's what was available. A renner back acion could be used, but would require all of the many modifications to make it work within the geometry requirements. All doable and done.<G> I have an Action Model made from spare parts, so the specifics have been preserved.<G!!> The basic problem with ALL Chickerings, is that Chickering liked to build everything with little or no "wiggle room", i.e. tight engineering! Can be daunting, but it is doable.<G> "What are the salvaged parts availability for reconditioning this?" Due to the age of such actions, the wood is toast and should not be attempted to "recondition"! The action itself, as designed is garbage and should never have been made IMHO! (Flack Suit firmly zipped up!....Don't bother Jack<G>) -- Best Regards, Joe Joe Garrett, R.P.T. (Oregon) Captain, Tool Police Squares R I -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20090806/fbbb12a5/attachment.htm>
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