Chickering Damper Wires

[Newton Hunt]

The Chickering damper wires are screwed into the top flange.  The
technique is to raise the damper stop rail as far as it will go, raise a
damper lever as high as it will go and turn out the damper.  If they
will not turn then use s heat gun and heat the wire until it loosens and
it can be turned.  If they are real tight you may wish to hold the top
block with a pair of pliers to prevent damaging the pinning or splitting
old wood.

Chickerings are such a pain...

		Newton

Pianotoone@AOL.COM wrote:
> 
> Hi List and Happy New Year
> 
> Today I was called to replace some damper felts on a small Chickering Grand.
> 
> When I pulled the action I discovered the damper wires were screwed into the
> jacks (blocks) with what appeared to be a little drop of glue where the wire
> entered the jack.  No amount of head scratching could help me determine how
> to remove the wires.  All grands I have worked on have had little screws
> holding the damper wires into the jacks.
> 
> The archives listed one instance where the whole set wwas removed from the
> piano (Susan Kline) and replaced with an APSCO part.  BUT the piano was
> unstrung.  Another writer mentioned that Les Smith had a technique but I
> couldn't find it in the archives
> 
> Any advice???
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Dick Day
> Marshall MI