knuckles

[Roger Jolly]

At 01:58 PM 12/27/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Dear Colleagues,
>
>In changing a set of knuckles, I found that the spline of the new
>replacements (supplied by a piano manufacturer) were a tish larger than the
>groove left after removal of the old knuckles. I found a file in my pile of
>tools that did the job of widening the groove, but I was uncomfortable
>using it because it slowed me down. I tried saw blades and I tried filing
>the new splines, but using the file in the grooves was the least of all
>those evils. Does anyone have a good trick of the trade to suggest for my
>next knuckle encounter?
>
>By the way, for those who are unaware, a "tish" is a highly technical term
>analogous to a "smidgeon".
>
>
>
>Howard S. Rosen, RPT
>Boynton Beach, Florida
>
>Geetings Howard,
                 You can steal an extra couple of thou. by leaving them in
the oven on warm setting for two or three hours, makes a great mechanical
joint. May work even better in Florida than here, where the air is very dry.
  I use this technique on hammer shanks as well. Since I use the oven at
home, I have some bags of silica gel that I dry down at the same time. Put
the silica gel in a Zip Lock bag with the shanks or knuckles to transport
to the shop. Shanks I pack about a dozen per bag.
Regards Roger
Roger Jolly
University of Saskatchewan
Dept. of Music.