[pianotech] brass rail duplication

[Encore Pianos]

Hi David:

 

Your version of my chart is frightening – you beamed it over to me, and
there are body parts scattered everywhere!

 

I’m not sure what you are asking about the chart, it’s just an simple Excel
spreadsheet with some flowers and potted plants, and no calculations even (I
did them myself!!).  

 

I did not divulge the name of the guilty party because my family has been
threatened (just kidding!!).  

 

How’s this for being coy:  it’s the only remaining supply house of the
original big three.  If you and my other brethren and sisteren can’t figure
it out from there, you are on your own.  

 

I was arguing with the “technician” at said supply house, who thought the
discrepencies were insignificant, and I did not.  I was still clinging to
the now naïve expectation that they were capable of duplicating the part
with at least some semblance of exactness.  I told him that I would seek
other opinions than his and mine, and get back to him after getting some
responses.  Which I will do shortly today, and I will tell him to send me
back the first set he sent, since I have already done all the filing and
fitting I needed to make it work so that I could actually hang ALL of the
parts back on the rails.  I will move and mount the rails on my own, put the
action back in, adjust as needed, tune the piano,  lick my wounds,  and
collect the check.  

 

You don’t have to worry about which house is the source of “duplicated”
rails and be confused.  They are the only one.  Hence their casualness.  

 

I don’t think we can reawaken the craftsman in him.  He never got those
genes in the first place.  

 

Will

 

 

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of David Skolnik
Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2012 10:29 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] brass rail duplication

 

Will -
I'm replying to your original post, as it was classic Truitt, and the stuff
with Ron is just an unfortunate distraction   (Let's be clear: I don't think
he is an unfortunate distraction, just the digression), but I wanted to
comment on one thing and make more trouble with the other.  I'd be very
curious to know how you executed that elegant chart that would appear as a
failed Startrek transporter attempt if I had tried to recreate it here (I
did try).  




Hasenjaegar Miller upright 
Old 
treble 
Difference
tenor 
Difference
Rail
Rail 
Rail 
Measure bottom of bracket to center pin v

0.886
0.851
0.035
smaller

And so on, except it was actually spread out over a much wider piece of real
estate.

Second, skipping over both the question of whether the errant measurements
would be the cause of the action problems, the wisdom of undertaking the
endeavor, or the range of corrective possibilities, I would note that,
despite encountering a certain indifference to craftsmanly-strivings, you
chose not to divulge the name of the enterprise.  My question, asked most
collegially is: Why?   You don't seem to be making any false accusations.
What is the ethos that defers to such indifference at the possible expense
of one, or more of your colleagues, going forward?  Would the supplier give
a rat's petuties if you were to name him?  If not, what the problem.  If so,
then that, or the threat of that should be sufficient to reawaken the
craftsman within.  

And besides, I'd like to know who it is, in case I have a similar rail to
duplicate, for, as you or he has said, they're the only ones doing this type
of work.  

Again, this is entirely apart from the issue of your capacity to deal with
what you have.

Just looking for trouble.

David Skolnik, RPT
Hastings on Hudson, NY



At 09:05 PM 9/11/2012, you wrote:



To the list:
 
A few weeks ago I sent two brass rails from a big old Henry F. Miller
upright to a supplier (who shall remain unnamed) for duplication.  
 

I spoke with the fellow who made it at the supply house.  I asked him if he
had a caliper or other means of measuring needed values to assure accuracy.
He told me that he did not, said that he eyeballed it when it was done, and
he thought it was good enough.  Apparently they have an indexing system on
their milling machine that allows them to duplicate rails without using
measurements.  The essence of it is that he has no reliably accurate means
of checking his work or whether or not the machine has drifted or worn its
way out of tolerance.  

 

I sent the rails back to be done again, asking that they buy a caliper and
check their work. Their technician, not the same fellow, called me to tell
me that the he had measured the distances I had given on the new parts with
his caliper accurate to .001.  He said both the first and second sets of
rails came out essentially the same, and varied from the original by 3 or 4
thousandths.  So he thought my caliper was suspect.

 

We argued about who was right for a while.  He thought it was sufficiently
accurate, they had been doing this for 50 years, and they had never had any
problems before. He told me I should be able to make it work and besides,
what other choice do I have, since nobody else makes them?  


Thanks for your help.
 
Will Truitt

 

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