Spurlock Damper Design

[Farrell]

Thanks for the input Ed. Yes, I was planning on getting enough material for
3 or 4 sets of dampers. I was also thinking of the mass thing. Bill
indicated he made his little damper 2-1/4" by 3/8" rectagles out of
basswood. I was thinking at least to start with some hard maple or any other
dense wood that glues well just to put a little mass in the system. I figure
it is not like the grand damper in that you are lifting it up - you will
only have a small amount of inertia to overcome because the damper travel
arc is nearly horizontal. I'll give some thought to the lead thing. I think
I will avoid the fishing weights :-). The lead I have from the Stanwood
stuff could simply be glued to the back (pianist side) of the hardwood
damper rectangle is extra weight is proves beneficial - or maybe even
wrapped around the dowel damper head and secured with a drop of thick CA
glue. I'll keep the spring tension in mind also.  Thanks.

Terry Farrell

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ed Sutton" <ed440@mindspring.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2001 2:43 PM
Subject: Re: pianotech-digest V2001 #1106


> Terry-
> I have done this.  It is worth doing.  You may also need to replace the
> damper wires and bend them to a different shape to get clearance between
the
> wire and adjacent damper heads.
>
> Also add some small weights to the damper heads.  It will improve damping
> and allow you to soften the springs in the tenor and treble, which will
make
> the action lighter.  One way is to drill the old damper heads to hold the
> little 1/4 inch leads from Apsco.  Another is to wrap lead wire or clamp
> fishing weights around the damper wire.
>
> When you buy the supplies for the dampers, buy enough for 3 or 4 more
> pianos.  Those trips to the hobby shop waste time.
> Ed Sutton
>
>
> ----------
> >From: owner-pianotech-digest@ptg.org (pianotech-digest)
> >To: pianotech-digest@ptg.org
> >Subject: pianotech-digest V2001 #1106
> >Date: Thu, Aug 30, 2001, 10:53 AM
> >
>
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2001 10:34:50 -0400
> > From: "Farrell" <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com>
> > Subject: Upright Damper Replacement
> >
> > Hi gang. Bill Spurlock wrote an article in the Journal in '94 about
upright
> > damper replacement. The bottom line was that he said that he found that
many
> > or most old uprights had bass dampers that were too short and he had the
> > best luck with dampers that were from 2 to 2-1/2 inches long, equipped
with
> > three pieces of 5/8" long wedges. He described how he made his own
dampers
> > (making the little boards and gluing the dampers onto new dowel damper
> > heads) and the process he uses to determine what size will work the best
for
> > any particular piano.
> >
> > Have any of you gone this route? Or know anyone that has? Is this
generally
> > a good way to go about getting good working new dampers on an old
upright? I
> > think most of what Bill Spurlock writes is pretty much right on target,
but
> > just looking for a second opinion. This is my first upright damper job,
so
> > it's not as if I gonna draw upon my own personal vast resources of
> > experience. Thanks.
> >
> > Also, he does not mention using the dowel damper heads in the tenor, but
> > does suggest that some of the first strings in the low tenor often
benefit
> > from a longer damper. Can I trust that there is nothing wrong with using
the
> > dowel damper heads in this area? And is there anything wrong with making
> > your own dampers for all the treble strings (that originally had
dampers)
> > and mounting them on dowel damper heads? Thanks again!
> >
> > Terry Farrell
> >
> > ------------------------------