Here's a tool you can make for this job. (Sorry, I don't know who originated this tool, but the first time I saw this was in RPT Dan Harteau's toolkit.) Start with a pair of key-easing pliers (Renner #1616, "keyboard squeezing pliers") with the upturned jaws that move parallel to each other. Drill and tap a hole in each jaw for a common machine thread of your choice (8-24, or metric). Insert set screws into these holes with the points facing each other, and protuding beyond the inside faces of the jaws. Now you can grab the lead weights and squeeze without having to remove the damper underlevers. It is possible to use ordinary round- or pan-headed machine screws cut to size, but sometimes the heads are just a little too thick to fit between the underlevers. What used to be a long job laced with plenty of cusswords now takes as little as 15 minutes, if that. It is now possible to "squeeze in" any/all loose damper leads along with any other last-minute emergencies that have a habit of turning up just as time for the service call is running out. Z! Reinhardt RPT Ann Arbor MI diskladame@provide.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "Clyde Hollinger" <cedel@supernet.com> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Friday, October 19, 2001 6:52 AM Subject: Loose damper lever weights Friends, I ran into a problem this week that I haven't encountered before. The piano is a 1988 Wurlitzer grand model G-552. In the process of tuning I noticed that for three keys two dampers would lift at the same time. I pulled the action out, and the lead (?) weights closest to the keyboard were loose in those three damper levers and had fallen against their next-door neighbors, which caused the problem. What is the most efficient fix? There has been some discussion of pliers recently, and at first I thought maybe it was about this exact problem, but I think there's not enough room to get a pliers in there. What I will do unless someone has a better idea: Remove the sostenuto rod, then for each problem key loosen the damper wire and pull it out, remove the damper lever assembly and glue in the weight, then replace/regulate as needed. I'm not eager to do this, since getting the flange screw back in has been a source of frustration for me in the past, but I can do it if that's the best way. Help? Comments? Regards, Clyde Hollinger
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