acrosonic hammer return spring replacement

[jpiesik@arinc.com]

    Hi Patrick,

    Are the hammer return springs broken flush to the wood at BOTH sides of
    the hammer return spring rail, i.e., flush at the hammer butt side and
    the damper flange side?  There is probably a felt strip on the back side
    (damper side) of the rail that you need to remove in order to acces the
    back side of the spring hole.  Hopefully, there will be a bit of spring
    wire here that is bent over on the back side of the rail that you can
    "pull" on from the back side to remove the little wire pieces.  If the
    wire is flush at both sides of the rail I would rig up a jig to press
    the pieces out of the rail as opposed to trying to "drill" new holes.
    You may be able to use a small drill press with a needle or very thin
    nail in the chuck.  Line up the needle (flatten the tip, first) with the
    clogged hole and press the wire out of the rail.  I've never had to do
    this before, but this is what I'd try.  Good luck.

    Regards,

    John Piesik
    San Diego Chapter PTG
    JPIESIK@ARINC.COM

Dear List Members:
My customer has an older Acrosonic spinet; the hammer return springs are
defective, ie crumbling. I looked over Don Valley's article which dealt with
spring replacement for some help, but still have some questions. In his
article he suggests that one pull the old springs out of the rail, and then
replace them. The springs on this rail are quite brittle and have broken off
flush to the wood.
Does anyone have suggestions on the best way to drill new holes out? One
technician-friend said he thought the holes were probably punched out in the
factory rather than drilled.
Thanks.
Patrick Draine, RPT
Billerica, MA