Rob, I have used a dry iron to heat the stick without charring. I use 2 big wood clamps for leverage. If the key is held level, put one clamp on each end, with the jaws of the clamps up. The clamps make feet for the assembly now. Heat the iron up to Cotton setting and move it slowly along the one side of the key for about 30 seconds, then the other side, then about 5 seconds on each side to make the stick warm enough, then hold twist the key past true about 1/2 as much as the existing twist, and hold for one minute. Let cool for another minute to see if anything changes. Adjust the procedure if you don't get all the way there, using heat longer or twisting a tad more. I did this on a water-damaged piano about 20 years ago, so this is based on an old recollection. You could try a hair dryer as an alternative. I think a heat gun would be tricky. A steam iron would take longer to stabilize to see the results. John Ashcraft On Fri, Aug 10, 2012 at 12:41 AM, Rob McCall <rob at mccallpiano.com> wrote: > Greetings, > > I finished a bit of work (mouse cleaning, pitch raise, tuning, fixing > broken wheels, etc.) on this piano but this one key (C8) was sticking when > pressed. I checked all the usual culprits but nothing seemed to have any > effect. That's when I noticed that the key stick was twisted. Not only > twisted but the capstan end seems to be bent to the right further than all > the other keysticks. I'm thinking it was a factory job because the last > wippen is also skewed out to the side to match up with the bent keystick. > The capstan even tilts at an angle while the key tilts the opposite way at > the working end. > > The ironic thing is that this was the 125th anniversary edition (1987) of > the Baldwin Hamilton. I think it said something about celebrating decades > of excellence and quality... :-) > > So.... Does anyone have any hints on how to make this work? Any fix short > of making a new key? It seems to be hanging up on the front rail pin > because of the skewed angle. Moving the key side to side exhibits about > 1-2mm of play, and the balance rail has some play, but the twist seems to > have the 2 pins working in the opposite direction from each other. Also, C8 > barely misses scraping on B7. See the 3rd picture down. > > Here's some photos... Thanks! > > Regards, > > Rob McCall > > McCall Piano Service, LLC > www.mccallpiano.com > Murrieta, CA > 951-698-1875 > > > > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20120810/6411dfd3/attachment-0001.htm> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpg Size: 86471 bytes Desc: not available URL: <https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20120810/6411dfd3/attachment-0004.jpg> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpg Size: 64482 bytes Desc: not available URL: <https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20120810/6411dfd3/attachment-0005.jpg> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpg Size: 58124 bytes Desc: not available URL: <https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20120810/6411dfd3/attachment-0006.jpg> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpg Size: 95860 bytes Desc: not available URL: <https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20120810/6411dfd3/attachment-0007.jpg>
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