[pianotech] 1st time -SnS brass flange

[Delwin D Fandrich]

I don't know if anyone still makes them either. But what puzzles me is how
some manufacturer back there in the dark ages could make them with some
precision and some semblance of style while at the tail end of the 20th
century with all of its modern machinery and metallurgy available the best
they could come up with was that crude approximation of the real thing that
APSCO sold. 

As you say, it was an ill-conceived and unnecessary "innovation" back when
but at least it was well made. That crappy piece APSCO sold was simply a
waste of (presumably) good metal. I remember buying some just before APSCO
closed up in a desperate attempt to salvage something or other. I bought 100
of them, used half a dozen of the least bad ones and threw the rest in the
scrap metal bin so they could be melted down and made into something useful
like a fallboard lock or something. 

ddf

Delwin D Fandrich
Piano Design & Fabrication
6939 Foothill Court SW, Olympia, Washington 98512 USA
Phone  360.515.0119 — Cell  360.388.6525
del at fandrichpiano.com — ddfandrich at gmail.com

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Ron Nossaman
Sent: Friday, April 06, 2012 8:01 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] 1st time -SnS brass flange

On 4/6/2012 8:57 AM, lim hock seng wrote:
> Hi,
> My 1st encounter with the brass flange on a SnS '40' upright. Its a 
> little sluggish on the last 2 octaves. Questions:
> 1. What would be the normal number of swings for these kind of flanges?
> 2. Are repinning steps the same for wooden flanges?
> Thanks!
> Lim


Flanges have nothing to do with swings, bushings do, and the bushings are
nothing special.

These are Billings flanges, yet another ill conceived aberration in an
industry that seems to collect them. Lacking the resilience of wood, they
hold the pin by a clamping action as the screw presses the front and back
together. Repinning requires prying the fold open slightly to release the
pin, which also risks breaking the flange at the fold. I don't know that
anyone even still sells Billings flanges anymore, do they? Last I saw was
from APSCO, I think, and they were so very poorly made as to be unusable.

Ron N