[CAUT] Teflon Bushings

[Delwin D Fandrich]

If the proper tools existed in the factory they were cleverly hidden during
my week-long visit to the factory where we spent quite a lot of time on just
this problem. No one had a clue about what to do when the bushings started
to click. The best that could be offered were the traditional methods of
sizing the hole in the bushing and repining. It was technicians who started
looking into the characteristics of Teflon and eventually came up with
reamers that actually worked. I bought mine--on the advice of a technician
whose name escapes me--from Johnson Carbide. Johnson Carbide developed them
after working with piano technicians with, to my knowledge, no input or help
from the Steinway factory. Ultimately, if memory serves, Steinway began to
offer these same reamers but that is not where they originated. 

Ddf

PS  I still have quite a few Teflon bushings of various sizes along with an
assortment of pins. If anyone needs any of these for servicing some of these
(now) old pianos, contact me.



Delwin D Fandrich
Piano Design & Fabrication
620 South Tower Avenue
Centralia, Washington 98531 USA
del at fandrichpiano.com
ddfandrich at gmail.com
Phone  360.736.7563


-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Horace
Greeley
Sent: Sunday, November 28, 2010 10:38 PM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Teflon Bushings



I respectfully disagree.

The correct tools were always available within the factory.  The problem, as
with so many other things, is that getting both them and the proper
techniques out to the field was the subject of a long and bitter internal
fight.  On the one hand, there were people like Freddie who were trying to
do _something_ (knowing that it was not the "right" thing).  On the other,
were many in management who took the position that things were perfect, and
that field technicians were the problem.

On my shop wall, I used to have a copy of a letter sent to a regionally
well-known school from Vince Orlando, who was at the time a V.P. at
Steinway.  The subject of the letter was the condition and servicing of a
1968 D.  The (paraphrased) content of the letter was to the effect that the
piano had been perfect when it left the factory, and that, if there were any
problems, they had obviously been caused by the incompetence of the local
technician.  Although I was not the technician in question, I was familiar
with both the instrument and the venue and can relate that the action had
effectively locked up within weeks of delivery; and that nothing had been
done to it.  Eventually, some degree of restorative warranty work was
performed, but only after some very serious sabre-rattling on both sides.

It was not until a fair number of these situations arose that Freddie simply
took it on himself to try to do something.  Sadly, many more such situations
developed before the company realized that they had to make available the
tools and instruction on how to use them.  While there undoubtedly were
independent technicians who came up with this, too, I am not sure that it is
possible to make a sustainable case that the solution was developed
independently by them.  I still have, someplace, a factory kit that dates
from sufficiently early in the timeline that it only has cut-outs for the
smaller, non-ribbed bushings...which places it before 1965, by which time
the larger bushings were starting to be seen in production.

All of this is, of course, less than the proverbial tempest in a teapot.
Between introducing a product/process that clearly was not ready for prime
time, refusing to provide proper tools and parts, numerous "catastrophic"
failures, and, I'm sorry to say, continuing unproductive commentary from
sales personnel and technicians, what could have been a revolutionary
improvement in piano actions has been swept into the dust-bin of piano
history.  Hopefully, the advent of the reintroduction of this kind of
engineering and thinking through the new action parts from W, N, & G has
come at a time when people are more receptive to this kind of radical
departure from tradition.

As always, best regards.

Horace



>ddf
>
>Delwin D Fandrich
>Piano Design & Fabrication
>620 South Tower Avenue
>Centralia, Washington 98531 USA
>del at fandrichpiano.com
>ddfandrich at gmail.com
>Phone  360.736.7563
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of 
>Horace Greeley
>Sent: Sunday, November 28, 2010 7:40 PM
>To: caut at ptg.org
>Subject: Re: [CAUT] Teflon Bushings
>
>... Perhaps more importantly, the solid-bushed Teflon action was a 
>number of years into production before any procedures for servicing it 
>was available, let alone tools with which to perform the service.  It 
>wasn't until things were largely at crisis level that Freddie Drasche 
>started teaching his home-grown technique of rolling brass center pins
between two files....
>
>Too bad...still an excellent concept...once fully worked through, it's 
>very stable and will last a long time.
>
>Best.
>
>Horace