sluggish butt questions

[John Ross]

Hi Tom,
I would suggest, getting a set of reamers from Schaff. They were
designed by Don Mannino. They really simplify repinning.
You ream the bushing, making sure the pin is tight in the birdseye,
and repin. The tool resizes and burnishes the bushing, in one
movement. You can also Protek, for added lubrication.
Just changing the pin won't work, as you have found out, to get it
free in the bushing, it is too loose in the birdseye.
Regards,
John M. Ross
Windsor, Nova Scotia.
jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca
----- Original Message -----
From: <Tvak@AOL.COM>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Sunday, July 14, 2002 2:55 PM
Subject: sluggish butt questions


| Finally I got around to taking the action out of the Stieff upright
(1890)
| and the first order of business was to figure out why the hammer
return is so
| sluggish. So I took a hammer out of the action and held the flange,
and the
| hammer will just stay suspended in the 9 o'clock position.  CLP did
not
| improve the situation much, so I removed the pin and I could see
some
| corrosion where the flange bushings were.  I replaced the old pin
(size 20
| 1/2) with a new pin of the same size and voila!  It's exactly the
same, no
| improvement at all.  I tried a size 20 pin but it is too loose in
the hammer
| butt.
|
| I know these are pretty basic questions, but I want to do this the
right way;
|  this is a pretty nice piano and has potential.  So...
|
| Should I ream the bushings?
|
| Is there another (better?) way to shrink the bushings a bit to make
this 20
| 1/2 size pin looser?
|
| Will Goose Juice make a difference where CLP failed?
|
| Is there a size 20 1/4 pin I don't know about?
|
| Tell me I don't need to rebush, please, tell me I don't need to
rebush.
|
| This is an area (flanges/bushings) in which I am more ignorant than
I'd like
| to be, which is why I buy these old pianos and fix'em up.  I am
forced to
| solve problems with little monetary risk  (this piano cost me $100)
and no
| client looking over my shoulder.  (Plus, it's alot of fun.)
|
| Any advice is (always) appreciated.
|
| Tom Sivak
|
|