Brass rail & new butts

[Bdshull@AOL.COM]

David,

I am also about to replace a set of brass rail butts - on an old Chickering.
A few years ago I used the Pratt-Win brass rail butts on an Everett upright I
rebuilt and the butts were milled too tightly at the centerpin arc - the
inside cut was not deep enough to clear the brass rail tongue/butt plate.
Being behind schedule I was able to install them by lightly removing material,
I believe, from the rail.  However, the quality is only as good as their cost.

On my Chickering I will replace the brass rail system with a Schwander-type
butt and flange available from American.  I will set it up with samples and
see how it performs.   On the Chickering the long catcher type butt seems to
match up perfectly, but I will still test it.   I have tried other parts and
they did not perform well at all.   But it seems Chickering set up their brass
rail actions with the same spread as their Schwander-type actions, and all one
must do is to install the correct butt and flange and it will perform as well
as the original brass rail system.

This is truly a non-profit project, and I wonder why I am doing it - the
Chickering was $50, looked beautiful (great board, back, cabinet,
ivories....), but I will still lose my shirt.

If high quality brass rail butts were available the brass rails could be heat-
treated and the results would be as good as original for the next 60 years,
and with less work.

Good luck!

Bill Shull
University of Redlands, La Sierra University
Loma Linda, CA