Dampp-Chaser grand under-cover installation

[Fred Sturm]

	The Velcro method of attaching grand undercovers never appealed to me. I 
figured it would be a can of worms, and by all accounts, it is. It seemed 
to me that attaching by means of hooks and eyes would work much better. The 
problem was how to create the eyes without too much time and expense. I 
just came up with a good solution to that problem, and would like to share 
it with you all. It's pretty simple: a piece of cloth tape, folded around 
the "hem" (ie, folded with the fold in the fabric), attached with two 
staples (common desk stapler), with a hole punched in the middle with a 
circular, adjustable, pliers-type leather punch.
	To work through the procedure step-wise:
1) Cut fabric per Dampp-Chaser instructions.
2) Install hooks at about 9 inch intervals around the inside of the 
rim/cavity. (Cup hooks would be fine. I used 90 degree hooks - half the 
price - with an additional bend I added using damper wire benders. Drill 
pilot holes with cordless Dremel).
3) Start in the corner between keybed and bass side of piano - the 90 
degree corner. Hold the fabric corner up to the corner-most hook, and put a 
piece of tape on the fabric there. (I used black duct tape. Gaffers would 
be fine. I expect even electrical tape would serve the purpose, but I think 
fabric is best). Fold the fabric and tape, and staple right next to the 
fold, and again in about 1/4 inch. Punch a hole between the staples. Attach 
to the hook.
4) Hold fabric up to each hook in turn, repeating the procedure.
	This was my very first undercover installation, and it took 35 minutes 
clock time. About 15 minutes of that was spent troubleshooting the darned 
stapler, and finally going in search of a better one. I figure I'll take 20 
minutes on the next one. And it looks good and neat, and comes off and goes 
back on with ease. Other than cussing at the stapler, I even enjoyed the 
process. I'll bring some sample eyes to Dallas to show at the caut 
symposium.

Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico