pedal lyre screws are obsolete

[John Ross]

I asked Schaff if they were going to carry the selection of screws, that
were in the APSCO catalogue.
They told me that Mr. Schadler, had kept the screw part of the business.
They gave me a telephone number, which I have lost. If anyone has it would
they please post it to the list.
Regards,
John M. Ross
Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dave Nereson" <davner@kaosol.net>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2003 7:58 AM
Subject: Re: pedal lyre screws are obsolete


>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <Alpha88x@aol.com>
> To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2003 9:21 PM
> Subject: pedal lyre screws are obsolete
>
>
> > greetings,
>  >. . . . . .Does anyone know where I can obtain such obsolete fastners?
Someone at a
> > hardware store mentioned a place named Constantine's in New York. Has
anyone
> > heard of this place? The national 1-800 directory assistance has no
phone number
> > on them and typing in www.constantine results in web page under
construction
> > message, so I cannot even be sure if this is the right constantine
company.
> >
> > thanks,
> > Julia Gottschall
> > piano rookie,
> > Reading, PA
>
>     On page 134 of the Schaff catalog, they list big screws ranging from
#18 to #24.  The price list doesn't say "discontinued", so maybe they're
still available.  They're not quite obsolete -- just getting harder to find.
>     Is there any kind of surplus tool and commodity place around there -- 
you know, scrap or surplus industrial stuff?  If not, I would follow the
suggestion of using lag screws.  Yes, do junk at least one old upright next
time you have a line on one.  Or a grand, but they don't usually have as
many long screws as uprights.  I've been known to find one in an alley and
stop right then and there and take out as many screws as I can (power
screwdriver is always in the car).  There's some danger if the tension has
not been let down, however.
>     Another possible source is a piano dealer that gets pianos such as
Yamahas that come in crates -- there are several packing and bracing blocks
that are fastened with long screws and sometimes these just get tossed.
Ask them if you could have a few of the screws.
>     Albert Constantine Jr.  wrote "Know Your Woods"  and "Home Course of
Instruction in Wood Finishing", and had courses on veneering, etc., and sold
woods and wood finishing supplies at Albert Constantine & Son, Inc., 2050
Eastchester Rd., New York, NY.  But all the publications I have are quite
old (1950's), so that place may no longer exist.  I don't know if he's still
living.  But I think I remember getting a Constantine catalog in the mail
within the last few years.
>     His father, Albert Sr. (1862-1948) was extremely knowledgeable of
woods and his great grandfather, Thomas Constantine, was a friend and
neighbor of Duncan Phyfe, the famous cabinetmaker.
>     If plugging the holes and using lag screws doesn't work for some
reason, you can drill all the way up through the keybed, recess tee-nuts
into the holes, and use machine bolts to fasten the lyre on.
>     --David Nereson, RPT
>
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