[CAUT] Chickering Quarter Grand

[Paul Williams RPT]

In 1996 I rebuilt a Chickering quarter grand. I will never do that again. 
It was a 1919 with ity-bity cheek blocks, giving me the impression that your 
project is a bit older.  All geometry was askew and even the damper heads 
were adjusted by lifting and turning them around by screw width to adjust 
them which made another nightmare...The wippens and hammer flanges were a 
mess.  These pianos are best left alone.  The ity-bity cheek blocks do have 
a bit of use, but only to hold the action frame somewhat "steady".  If you 
get into action work, you're in for a trip and I don't mean to Fiji.  Paul
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Conrad Hoffsommer" <hoffsoco at luther.edu>
To: "College and University Technicians" <caut at ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 3:37 AM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Chickering Quarter Grand


> Bob,
>
> At 09:03 PM 3/16/2006 -0800, you wrote:
>>At a small college that I  just added as a new
>>customer, I  tuned a Chickering Quarter Grand today.
>>
>>I pulled the action to try to improve regulation on
>>some of the most offensive notes and ran into a set-up
>>that is unfamiliar to me.
>>
>>No cheek blocks:
>
>
> No cheek blocks?  I seem to recall that there were vestigial ones, about 
> 1/4" thick, with attachment screws which went into the rim and were 
> accessed below the keys.
>
>
>>what is there to hold the action in
>>the correct position - just  the dags and the keyslip?
>
> Force of habit?  I only get to see the one in my client base about every 
> other year - this is the off year and CRS is hitting.
>
>>Hammer Flanges and shanks at an angle similar to the
>>back half of the key stick.
>
> ...and hammers hung at interesting angles because of it. Chickering had a 
> habit of doing that.  It took them a while to get away from their square 
> piano habits.
>
>>Wippen flanges - I couldn't see them clearly beneath
>>the hammer rest rail but the wippens were very wobbly
>>side to side so much so that they were rubbing. Didn't
>>have time to dig into them and see why.
>
> How are you at brass flange repair??
> ;-{
>
>>Were these a decent little grand in their day?
>
> Opinions vary...
>
>
>
> Conrad Hoffsommer - Keyboard Technician
> Luther College, 700 College Dr., Decorah, Iowa 52101-1045
> 1-(563)-387-1204 // Fax 1-(563)-387-1076
>
> - Right now, I'm hoping to live until my age matches my golf score,
> - Until then, I'll have to be content to have my IQ match my handicap.
>
>
>