[pianotech] brass rail duplication

[Encore Pianos]

Ron  - this reply  is better than the first one.    

My response was directed to your display of bad manners, which remain
unacknowledged.   But I leave it at that, as I have no further expectation
of you.

FWIW I will  shim the rails upward and screw in place after relocating the
screws.  Just because I ask for others opinion and advice doesn't mean that
I have not given considerable thought to it before I ask the question.   I
normally do just that before seeking the advice of others.  I am not asking
others to do my thinking for me, but if they can supplement whatever I have
come up with or show me the error of my ways, I am all ears.  

Will

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Ron Nossaman
Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2012 8:51 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] brass rail duplication

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