Spurlock Damper Design

[Dale R Fox]

Hi Terry,
	
	You can use aircraft ply available at the local hobby shop if you want
better stability than solid basswood.  Renner sells nice sets of premade
upright dampers about 2 1/4" or so long.  A bit pricey at $50/set.  Look
inside a European upright and you will likely see a set if it is a Renner
action.  We just make our own.  Make several sets at a time as a time
saver.

Dale Fox

On Thu, 30 Aug 2001 15:21:25 -0400 "Farrell" <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com>
writes:
> 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
> > >
> > > ------------------------------
> 

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