One other thing that will help is to take the time break the wood dowel free as you are putting the elbow on.
Saves one from getting fustrated when regulating lost motion later.
Joe Goss RPT
Mother Goose Tools
imatunr at srvinet.com
www.mothergoosetools.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Claude Harding
To: toddpianoworks at att.net ; pianotech at ptg.org
Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2009 8:45 AM
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Elbow Replacement (quick question)
Matthew,
You have gotten a lot of good advice to your question. I'll go ahead and add my two cents worth.
As has been mentioned, if you can duplicate the distance between the elbow's contact with the center pin on the wippen and the regulating button on the other end of the wire, you will save yourself quite a bit of time with the regulating after the installation.
Even at my somewhat advanced age, I get on the floor and do this job in the home, using the Vagias snap-on elbows.
1. I put a sheet or towels down on the floor and inside the piano bottom to catch as much of the debris as possible.
2. I break off the old, brittle elbows with my needle-nose pliers. Most of the elbows will crush or shatter easily. If some part of the elbow doesn't break easily, I hold it with my pliers and tug gently while heating the elbow with my heat gun. It doesn't take but a few seconds before the rest of the elbow will melt enough to easily pull off the center pin.
WARNING: Be careful to not damage the pin or break out the sides of the wippen. While you are crushing pieces of the elbow, the material can spread out and push against the sides of the wippen. While you are pulling or crushing the elbow pieces, work carefully and you will avoid trouble.
3. I take each elbow out in order and lay them on the floor beside me, in order. Then, like others have suggested, I clamp my vice grip pliers on the wire at the top of the old elbow, break off whatever remains of the old elbow, and screw on the new elbow until it butts up against the vice grips. This only take seconds, and the vice grips can make a nice handle to twirl of spin the wire into the new elbow.
4. Put each new elbow/wire assembly back on in the same order. This minimizes regulation at the end of the job. I work by sections, bass, tenor, treble. Finish one section and then go to the next.
WARNING: When snapping the new elbow onto the center pin, reach behind the wippen and support it with a finger of the other hand against the pressure of the elbow snapping on. This is especially important if the wippen flanges might be plastic of the same vintage (Unless you are ready to sell that job, too.)
5. When all the elbows have been replaced, regulate the jack position under the butts by adjusting the button on the end of the sticker wire. Check other regulation items, then tune or collect your check for this job.
6. BE SURE to clean up after yourself when this job is done. Bring in your vacuum, and clean out the inside of the piano, AND the floor outside the piano.
As someone mentioned, this job is coming up less frequently than in the past. Eventually, all these old plastic elbows will get replaced or the pianos with them will get tossed.
This job takes me about two to two and a half hours. You may be quicker than I am because you are young and limber.
Good luck.
Hope to see you at the next chapter meeting.
Claude Harding
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Matthew Todd
Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 5:52 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: [pianotech] Elbow Replacement (quick question)
When screwing on the new elbows, do we normally screw till the elbow just covers the threads on the lifter wire, or do we screw until the lifter wire is all the way down in the hole?
OR, does it not matter?
TODD PIANO WORKS
Matthew Todd, Piano Technician
(979) 248-9578
http://www.toddpianoworks.com
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