damper guide rail bushings

[Ron Nossaman]

Hi Paul,

I've had pretty good luck bushing the holes as usual (tight), and inserting
a #6 bridge pin. After the glue dries, pull a pin and try a damper wire in
the hole. This is often adequate. If it's too tight, re-insert the bridge
pin and wet the bushings with an alcohol/water mix. Heat the whole mess with
a hair drier, heat gun, or bake it in the oven (conventional) at about 250
degrees for an hour or until dry. Serve with a light red wine. The wires
should be a pretty close fit after this. If they are still too tight, you
can iron them out with a hot damper wire. Put the cool wire through a
bushing, heat the end, and pull it back out relatively slowly. the results
will depend on how tight the bushing was, how hot the wire is, and how long
the hot section was in the bushing. Be patient, be careful, and pay
attention. Check sizing with a cold wire from time to time to make sure it's
working. There are about a billion ways to do this, all of which work under
certain circumstances. This went through the list a few months ago. Check
the archives.

Ron
 

At 07:21 AM 7/14/98 EDT, you wrote:
>List
>
>Sorry I could not make the convention this year. Hope you had a great one. I
>was called by a client to take "the rattle out" of their grand piano. Turns
>out that the damper guide rail bushings are hard as rocks, many of them worn
>out-all need replacing. What's a good way to size the new felt bushings.  The
>damper wires mike to an average of .0725". Is it best to be at that size when
>new or slightly larger? I've replaced bushings in the past, but it was always
>to match existing sizes. This piano needs a whole set, and I have nothing to
>go by. All your "guidence" will be appreciated.  Thanks.
>
>Paul Chick RPT
>Plainview MN
>
>
 Ron