Gary First of all, I don't think I've ever filed hammers on any piano while it was still in the piano. I've filed a few hammers just to see if it would improve the tone, and I've filed a few bass hammers when they were hitting the string next to the one it is supposed to hit. So at least that question I answered. As far as removing the action from a Wurly, did you unscrew the blocks of wood that hold the top lid and fall board? Did you remove all the keys? When you felt the action stop, did you look to see what it was hitting, and did you try to remove what ever it was that was keeping the action from coming out? In some rare cases, I've had to tilt the action a little to get it to come out. But I've never had one that didn't come out, even after some maneuvering. It also helps if you talk to it, using some suggestive language. Of course you have to make sure you're either talking under your breath, or without the customer in the room. Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT Piano Tuner/Technician Mililani, Oahu, HI 808-349-2943 Author of: The Business of Piano Tuning available from Potter Press www.pianotuning.com -----Original Message----- From: Amadeus Piano <amadeuspiano at comcast.net> To: pianotech at ptg.org Sent: Mon, Aug 24, 2009 8:42 am Subject: [pianotech] Spinet: Filing/ Shaping Hammers Do you always remove the action to file/ shape hammers in a spinet? I ask because I read here once that we should never remove a spinet action unless absolutely necessary. I now understand that edict. With good faith and naive optimism, I fully intended to remove the action on a Wurlitzer ca. 1950 spinet. I unscrewed the action bracket bolts, I unscrewed the little screws holding the front edge down at the back of the keybed, I even unscrewed the brace on the fallboard slide to make more room; then I tried pulling the little puppy out. Yikes. I couldn’t get it to come out. I could get it moving up and it felt like it was coming out, but then it would stop, like there was something I missed or it was snagging somewhere. But I couldn’t find what was holding it back. I could get it up about 3 or 4 inches or so, but then it seemed to catch. Looking up from underneath, I couldn’t see the problem. It wasn’t any of the peddle dowels—I’ve seen them screwed in at the top before, but that wasn’t the case here, they just fell off. But, I have to say, just getting it back in from this position without doing any damage was hard enough—it seemed nearly cunning in its willingness to move in every direction but up or straight back down—and it was all I could do to keep from ripping the dampers all to hell. To make a long story short, I filed and shaped the hammers with the action in place. (Faux pas)? I think I did a pretty good job, but getting to the bac k of the hammers at the correct angle was a bear. And of course, I worried about the felt dust getting all over the place. I was careful and even placed rags around the bottom of the shanks to block as much as I could, and when I was done, I (carefully) blew and (vigorously) vacuumed and I think I got most if not all of it out. I think I did a decent job on the hammers—standard grove wear taken care of, the hammer shape looks pretty good, all strings make contact. And it tuned up ok after the work too, although I can’t swear that I didn’t mess up some strike points just a little, esp. in the area just after the treble break—there are some subtle false beats that may or may not have been there prior to the hammer work. So, I guess my question is twofold: Is it ok to attempt to shape hammers in a spinet with the action in place? And what might have been the problem with this action snagging, what was I missing? Something obvious I fear. I imagine I will eventually have to remove one of these actions—thought I dread the thought. Thanks in advance, Gary -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20090824/3649d2cd/attachment-0001.htm>
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