[CAUT] monkey hanger

[David Ilvedson]

I just did the monkey hanger repair and it couldn't have been easier.   I am now the official monkey hanger repair guy on the Peninsula... '-]   I went to the hardware store for the 95/5 solder, ended up getting silver solder also and a clicker/sparker thingy...what the heck, the repair fee was many times what I invested in the right equipment.   

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA  94044

----- Original message ----------------------------------------
From: "Jeff Tanner" <tannertuner at bellsouth.net>
To: caut at ptg.org
Received: 7/31/2009 9:47:27 AM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] monkey hanger



>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "John Ross" <jrpiano at win.eastlink.ca>
>To: <caut at ptg.org>
>Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2009 6:49 PM
>Subject: Re: [CAUT] monkey hanger


>> You don't pass any hardware stores on your way to work, or home.
>> I don't know how that would take much driving around.

>You don't always have time to stop.  Even so, you're still investing your 
>time in a particular repair.  It's either costing you or you're passing it 
>along to the customer.  In this case, a recital was to happen later that 
>afternoon, and access to the piano was limited.  There was not time to go to 
>a hardware store.  I temporarily robbed another piano.

>> You should already have small cost tools like that. As someone else said,
>> the hangers on uprights are another use.

>No.  They're not.  Again, another repair one runs into once in a lifetime, 
>and the one I last did probably 23 years ago was not soldered.  I scored a 
>nail, like a pedal pin, wedged it in the hole, and it worked perfectly.

>I actually have never had a need for a torch other than this, can't imagine 
>another one, and the only use I have for a soldering iron is the 40 watt one 
>with the hammer iron attachment.

>> I have a small clamp on vice as well.

>The university had a vice, but there wasn't a decent work bench to mount it 
>on.  Hence, holding the rod with one hand, the wire with another hand, the 
>heat source my right foot, the solder with my teeth, etc., got a bit 
>cumbersome.

>> Then again, I might have been at it longer than you, because, when I 
>> started
>> I didn't have a lot of tools.

>I've been at it for 25 years.  But my acquisition of tools has been limited 
>due to the nature of the work I have done over the years.  The majority of 
>my time has been spent as a maintenance tech -- tuning, normal repair, and 
>regulation.  I consider this type of repair way out of the ordinary for 
>piano work, and metal repair not something I have enough experience in to 
>have any confidence in.  About the only thing I do know about soldering is 
>that you heat the part, not the solder.

>> Now I have too many, as I just 'think' I might need it.

>And the other thing is, you buy all these tools, and 15 years later when you 
>next need it, you have no idea where you last laid it down.

>There are some repairs where you have to make a judgement call.  I can 
>"repair" it but the repair may not last, or I can replace it.  We recommend 
>replacing the hammer shank rather than splicing it for a reason.  Not 
>knowing what kind of solder to use, what kind of wire to replace the broken 
>part with, I felt more confident in this particular situation in replacing 
>the whole part.

>I really don't appreciate the smart aleck remarks inferring that I am 
>somehow less of a piano technician because I didn't have confidence in my 
>soldering skills in this one situation.  Part of being a technician is 
>making the right decision, and in this case, I still am confident it was.

>Tanner