[pianotech] mending keybed front edge

[Tom Driscoll]

Pat,
   I would lean toward removing the keybed. It's obviously a fairly new 
Asian piano and it should be pretty easy to remove. Then procede as Ron 
suggested . My preferred glue would be Titebond.
I had a Kawai with a keybed that had to be removed and it came out 
remarkably easy. If the client has budget problems maybe an "In place " 
repair would work but it would teach them a better lesson to see you take 
the piano apart.<G>.

Figure on some regulation after as it may not end up in exactly in the same 
place. Thinking off the top of my head you could install the bed and leave 
the screws loose ,put in the action and a few keys in the end sections and 
position the bed by replication the existing damper timing and lost motion. 
Maybe I'm making too big a deal out of this and just screwing the thing back 
together would be accurate enough.
 Best,
Tom Driscoll


>J Patrick Draine wrote:
>> Hi Talented Shop Heads,
>> A client screwed up when attempting a do-it-herself piano move, and as it 
>> flipped forward in her trailer, the legs tore up the front edge of the 
>> keybed. What is the best way (type of clamping, mainly) to put it back 
>> together? Preferred glue? Is it stupid of me to plan on doing this 
>> without removing the entire keybed (although I will of course remove the 
>> action & keyframe)?
>
> It might well be stupid to try to do it with the key bed in place, but I'd 
> try that first with, as you say, the key frame removed. Do you have some F 
> clamps long enough to reach from back to front of the key bed? I'd 
> sandwich the thing top and bottom with clamps and planks to maintain 
> vertical alignment, and dry clamp it together to see if it will go back 
> where it was. If not, I'd pull the key bed out, and finish breaking it 
> full length to clean out the splinters so it will go back together. That 
> may prove to be the best way anyway, since it makes it easier to get glue 
> into all areas of the break. After gluing, I think I'd put a couple of 
> 1/2" maple or birch dowels in each end, bridging the break, for whatever 
> reinforcement they might offer. Or you could make an entirely new key bed 
> out of stacked Baltic Birch plywood, but that's sort of drastic.
>
> It's not a real tough fix, and is different enough from the day to day 
> stuff that it should be kind of fun.
> Ron N
>