[pianotech] brass rail duplication

[Ron Nossaman]

On 9/12/2012 6:05 PM, Encore Pianos wrote:
> Thanks for our input, Ron.  But, try as I might, I can't seem to shrink
> myself as small as you want me to be.

No, Will, that's not the message.


> Yeh, it's a junk job.  As my daughter used to say when she was being a young
> smarty pants, well, duh.  Thank you for stating the obvious, I never would
> have gotten it otherwise.

And didn't I say what I would have done if I was doing the job? I know 
how this stuff happens. It's called eating. And being a junk job, it 
carries serious limitations and risks for alternative approaches when 
Murphy comes around, and Murphy always comes with these jobs. So in 
these circumstances, is that 0.035" making you look bad? It doesn't, you 
know. Under the circumstances, you just make it work.

You've been around long enough to know that what you got in rail 
duplication wasn't the end of the world, and could be made to work 
without a whole lot of angst. I'm sure you've dealt with much worse 
successfully. Yes, I agree the rail should have been better, and it's 
inconceivable that the supplier couldn't spring for a $15 Harbor freight 
caliper that would certainly have been better than eyeballing, and given 
them at least some clue as to the accuracy of what they are producing. 
But they didn't, and likely won't.

So, having screamed to the world about the inability of the supplier to 
produce an exact replica - with equally inaccurate remake, where are you 
now? Will you convert the rail to standard flanges and buy new parts (at 
who's expense?), or will you stick with the original plan for the 
original budgetary reasons and just shim the things up and make them 
work? THAT was the point. At the end of the day, you have promises to 
keep and a budget to stay within and you know how to do both. Maybe 
we'll all get a more perfect world next time around.

Ron N