Brass Rail Clips? On Lyon and Healy Upright?

[carl meyer]

Anytime you "work" brass or other metal and glass it becomes "work
hardened".  Since brass flanges are under stress for years it becomes
work hardened.  I spoke to a metal treating fellow that told me it
needed to be heated to 1200 degrees and cooled over several hours.  I'm
sure that is the ultimate and something less drastic would be of some
help.  I recently replaced all the small brass plates on a lester
upright, since some were broken.  I left the actual rail alone since it
was still all intact.  I made sure I didn't overtighten the screws.  I
think many are broken because the hammer shank wobbled because the pin
was loose and someone tried to fix it by overtightening the screw and
cracked the brass plate.

Carl Meyer
Santa Clara, Ca.

John Ross wrote:
> 
> Hi Bill,
> Have you tried the repair flange #517 in the Schaff catalogue, page 99.
> It appears that all you do is cut out the bad section of rail, and
> substitute
> however many of these you need.
> For the rail parts that are still good, I was at a class in Dearborn, where
> the rail was heated (annealed) to make it flexible again. I can't remember
> the temperature it had to be raised to. Maybe someone else on the list
>  has the particulars.
> Regards,
> John M. Ross
> Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada.
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <BSimon999@AOL.COM>
> To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2000 11:49 AM
> Subject: Brass Rail Clips? On Lyon and Healy Upright?
> 
> > I am looking for some advice on solving a problem.
> >
> > A very nice poverty struck customer who with best intentions bought a 1908
> > Lyon and Healy upright for a hundred dollars, "for the kid to earn on".
> >
> > I was called to tune it after the first 5 brass rail tabs broke off. The
> > action is the problem, the rest of the piano is remarkably good. Brass
> rail
> > clips do not work well on this particular piano's brass rail geometry,
> > raising the hammer butt over an eight of an inch. No normal repair flanges
> > fit to the screw hole and centerpin line. I have been removing the section
> of
> > brass rail of just a particular note and using Billings flanges beaten
> flat
> > to repair it, but it is a clunky repair and is not that easy to do.
> >
> > Has anyone successfully  dealt with a Lyon and Healy having this problem?
> > (Out of curiosity only, is there a good source for brass rail clips? )
> >
> > Has anyone ever removed the brass rail completely and replaced it with
> wood
> > flanges.
> > If you did, what kind of time did it take? A certain amount of Pro Bono
> work
> > is usual for me,  but this one could get out of hand in a blink. My
> > preference is to find a physical solution for the action problem and show
> the
> > fellow how to do it himself, for he is very handy.
> >
> > Any advice? I hate for the piano to be lost for want of a flange solution.
> >
> > Thank You,
> > Bill Simon