[CAUT] Knabe Grand

[Otto Keyes]

This summer I had a Sohmer grand w/ fluted legs, scrollwork lyre, etc, that
the got shoved around the theatre lobby, leg knocked off, & lyre crushed .
Not a pretty sight, & no possible way to duplicate it.  Both uprights were
broken right at the top of the pedal box at the smallest/weakest possible
spot in the turning.  I ended up using polyurethane liquid glue at the
breaks (this stuff needs good clamping or it will push the parts apart),
then drilled up through the pedal box into the uprights & glued in maple
dowels.  The repair is very solid & hardly visible...if you stand back about
20 feet, & squint your eyes into the darkness under the piano.

Actually it turned out pretty decently, but would have been better had I
located the center of the dowel/upright from the top & drilled a pilot hole.
I made an assumption (violating Otto's motto:  "Check everyting before you
do anything!") and didn't realize until too late that the dowels did not
extend all the way into the pedal box.  So I measured & centered as best I
could, but the drill hole breached the thin spot in the upright, allowing
the reinforcing dowel to protrude a bit.  I could have shaped that down, but
wanted the full strength, so I disguised it & it came out pretty well.

The poly glue is tough stuff on its own, & will hold pretty well -- even on
an end grain joint.  Just don't try to wipe off the excess.  Let it cure,
then chip/cut off the foam.

Otto

----- Original Message -----
From: "Avery Todd" <atodd@uh.edu>
To: "College and University Technicians" <caut@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, October 15, 2004 11:51 AM
Subject: [CAUT] Knabe Grand


> List,
>
> Would anyone happen to have a suggestion on where I might be able to find
> someone to duplicate/repair a badly messed up pedal lyre on an old Knabe
> grand, app. 6'3"? I
> sent an e-mail to a tech friend of mine in this general area but I don't
> know if
> he'll have the time to do it, so in the meantime, I thought I'd see if
anyone
> had any other suggestions.
>
> I was working with the pedals and suddenly, the whole bottom of it broke
> and/or
> came loose. It's obviously been worked on before, not very well. I'm not a
> good
> enough woodworker to do this one, so any suggestions would be welcome.
Even
> replacing it.
>
> The one pictured in the Schaff catalogue "might" be adaptable but the
> measurements
> are somewhat different.
>
> Theirs: 21¼" high, 13½" wide @ top, 10" wide @ pedals.
> Mine:   23"  high, 12"  wide @ top, 8½" wide @ pedals.
>
> There is a little flaring out in the design on the Knabe, so there would
> probably
> be room to "cheat" a little. It would be nice to have an exact duplicate
but I
> seriously doubt that's possible. Unless someone can duplicate some of the
> parts.
>
> Actually, I just took another look and realized that the only thing that
would
> have to be done is to duplicate the two tapered "legs" between the pedal
> box and
> the top and drill out and replace the old dowels that join the two.
>
> I'll probably be putting this on the pianotech list tonight when I get
> home, so
> I apologize in advance to any of you who will end up getting two of these
> posts.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Avery
>
> ________________________________
> Avery Todd
> University of Houston
> Houston, TX
>
>
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