Del, In the March 2000 issue of the Piano Technicians Journal there is an article I wrote about using the drill press to instal capstans. The tapered "chuck" grabs the capstan with enough friction and is easily made on a wood lathe. I have made a change in my procedure and have made a new "chuck" out of 1/2" canvas reinforced phonelic rod (MSC #75963412571). The same tapered hole is machined into the bottom. I got this Idea from Ted Sambel and have used it successfully for reinstalling capstans in old key as well as for new keyboards. Give it a try, it works great. John Hartman Delwin D Fandrich wrote: > From the information given, I'd guess an oversized pilot hole. Let me > make a distinction here, as well. It is possible that a factory might > successfully turn the capstans in place. This would be done with a > machine that would precisely grip the head of the capstan holding it > nice an true and then spin the capstan down with no side play on the > capstan at all. This is not how we would do the operation in our > shops. We take a capstan wrench -- of whatever type -- and slowly > crank the thing down. They wobble all over the place finding their way > down as best they can. By pressing, rather than turning, the capstan > into a properly sized pilot hole, it is driven straight into the hole > without much damage to the sides of the hole. I've tried it both ways > and have consistently found those capstans I have pressed home to be > straighter and tighter than those I have turned in. However, your > mileage may vary.... If it works better for you to turn them home, > then that it the proper way for you. We'll keep pressing on. Del > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Dave Nereson > To: pianotech@ptg.org > Sent: January 07, 2001 11:37 PM > Subject: Re: Capstans > I recently tried to regulate a brand-new Boston studio. > The capstans wouldn't stay regulated. I'd regulate them, > then after tuning, there'd be too much lost motion again. > The capstans were being pushed down into their holes even on > a medium-hard blow, and no, I wasn't pounding the heck out > of it. The factory must've a) drilled the holes too large, > or b) pressed, rather than turned them into their holes. Or > maybe the holes expanded due to the dry Colorado climate > ? --Dave Nereson, Denver >
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