Sounds like we are refining things here. Thanks for all the tips. They sound good. > Is the piano in your shop? It's a lot easier to solve the little problems > with the piano there. You don't know how many times I wished the piano was in my shop. No, it is not. It is about 25 miles away. Oh, well. I guess that just means at least one or two trips out there for fitting, etc. I'm sure if I had done 87 of these jobs before, I could do all in one quick trip. But I have not, this is upright damper job #1. So I will go there as many time as is necessary to do the job right! Thanks again for your input. This is great. Terry Farrell ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ed Sutton" <ed440@mindspring.com> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Friday, August 31, 2001 10:25 AM Subject: Re:Spurlock Damper Design (larger dampers in bass for old upright) > Terry- > > No, step one is: Make a sample damper and see if it works. This is how you > find the answers to the other questions. Step two will probably be: Make > another sample damper, etc. > > The dimensions Bill gives in the article are a good place to start. > 1/8 inch boards seem a little thick. Seems to me I found something a little > thinner. Someone mentioned (model) aircraft plywood- that would be very > good, and can be found in 1/16 inch thickness. > > I used Schaff #947 Grand damper lifter felt. It's 2mm thick. I liked it > better when it was blue, but now they are selling brown. O well. > Temperament strips would be too thick and soft, I think. > > When you do it, you will see the problem of clearing the damper wires when > the damper lifts off the string. If the piano originally had very small > dampers, the lower end of the long damper will tend to bump into neighboring > damper wires. On pianos designed with long dampers, the wire is bent in a > dogleg to clear the neighboring dampers. > > Keeping the damper as thin as possible front to back will help, so will > getting it as close to the hammer as possible. Finally you may find that a > slight change of dimension, and possibly trimming the ends at angles will > get larger dampers on the piano without having to rebend or replace the > damper wires. > > But all of this is easier to see in the piano than to describe in words. > Therefore, make that sample damper, try it, refine it, etc. > > Is the piano in your shop? It's a lot easier to solve the little problems > with the piano there. > > Have fun! It's a satisfying job to do. You'll feel high class about it! > > Ed S. > > ---------- > >From: owner-pianotech-digest@ptg.org (pianotech-digest) > >To: pianotech-digest@ptg.org > >Subject: pianotech-digest V2001 #1115 > >Date: Fri, Aug 31, 2001, 7:00 AM > > > > > ----------------------------- > > > > Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 07:45:03 -0400 > > From: "Farrell" <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com> > > Subject: Re: Spurlock Damper Design > > > > I have been contemplating the sequence of procedures I would use to > > construct a set of dampers and the best I can come up with is as follows: > > > > 1) Cut appropriate number of 1/8" thick X 3/8" X 2-1/4" (or whatever length > > you decide) damper boards. > > > > 2) Cut 3/8" wide felt damper wedges, etc. into 5/8" lengths (or whatever > > length you decide). > > > > 3) Glue felt to board, being real careful with felt piece alignment > > (perhaps best to use a jig for training). > > > > 4) Line up dampers side-to-side, felt side down, and glue 1/8" thick spring > > rail felt to back of dampers boards. > > > > Is spring rail felt the best to use (that is what Bill Spurlock uses)? What > > about muting strips - they are available in various thicknesses - perhaps an > > advantage to get best fit? What about understring felt - or is that too > > firm? What about action cloth - again, available in various thicknesses? Or > > any other felt work best? Any thoughts? Thanks. > > > > Terry Farrell
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