Lid props (was Re: "VJ")

[harvey]

Susan, these are neither the dangerous S&S or Schaff versions, nor the
"stick on a rope" that Spurlock sells. I used, or tried to use each of the
former a couple times. They did not end up in the back of a drawer, rather
in the big round file at the end of the workbench.

In the case of the rope version, I see no reason why it wouldn't work well.
However, I've not tried one because of storage in my kit... it's not round,
not square, etc., in fact has no shape. 

The Davis prop was given at least two treatments in recent Journals; once
an honorable mention by Isaac Sadigursky, then by Claire Davis as a
followup with drawings. Unfortunately, I was unable to find the issues for
reference. I hope that referencing problem is corrected before I die,
specifically via the CD ROM becoming available! 8-(

The Davis unit is a short piece of maple, approx 1" wide, gently tapered at
the ends then covered with buckskin. A hole is drilled slightly oversized
through the center of the maple to accommodate a pedal prop/nut, and on the
prop bolt "rides" two soundboard buttons that are glued back-to-back with
opposing grain direction. Topboard height is governed by adjusting the wing
nut on the pedal prop, thereby changing the angle of the gozorniblatun to
the plain of the pfisterous for a particular piano. In the most recent
version, Claire recommends the addition of some heat shrink tubing at the
fixed end of the prop bolt to prevent the s/b buttons from sliding back and
forth. Since this unit comes apart, I added a piece of the special Velcro
(two working sides) to wrap around the pieces for storage.

The Kohford version is hard to describe, even harder to build, but is the
"Cadillac" of lid props. The components consist of nothing more than -very-
heavy bass string core wire, some swatches of either action cloth or
buckskin, and a short length of thick-walled aluminum conduit. Herman
Kohford introduced the device during one of his tools programs a long time
ago, then Richard Davenport improved on that design and built a few of them
for some of us local techs. He concluded that, in spite of their elegant
simplicity, they were too labor intensive to make for resale. Anyway, the
piano wire is bent to have two legs that attach to the conduit, the rest of
the wire is made into a coil -- somewhat like a large tuning pin coil. When
not in use, the two wire legs store inside the conduit, therefore when
stored it looks more like a large ballpoint pen.

Jim Harvey, RPT



At 08:55 PM 10/23/99 -0700, you wrote:
>Hi, Jim Harvey 
>
>>[Clair] Davis lid prop = still is, but is beginning to fade
>>[Herman] Kohford lid prop = only a few people even know about this anyway.
>>... etc.
>
>Can you describe these? Is one the triangle made of strapping 
>covered with bushing cloth which I first bought at Schaff? Or the 
>one that Bill Spurlock sells, with a stick with ends cut to 45 degrees, 
>suede covered, and a nylon cord going through a heavy short dowel of 
>nylon? Or the one like the Steinway lid prop? Or the one with a stick 
>like Bill Spurlock's, only with a tape going around a wooden dowel, 
>glued to the ends of the stick. 
>
>All of them I welcomed with joy and relief! I don't leave home without 
>at least two of them.
>
>Susan