How to adjust let-off with no adjustable capstan?

[John Ross]

Unfortunately, they seem to be rusted in place.
Thanks.
John M. Ross
Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Thomas Cole" <tcole@cruzio.com>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, June 24, 2005 11:18 PM
Subject: Re: How to adjust let-off with no adjustable capstan?


> John,
>
> You may have the best solution for the circumstance, but it occurs to me 
> that these "nails" may be a bit loose in the key stick by now. I mean, how 
> much of an interference fit could there be to start with, and then wood 
> shrinkage / grain crush? So a little hard playing and it knocks the 
> capstans into the wood and you have lost motion.
>
> I have this fantasy that you could raise the capstans with a small pry bar 
> and tap them down with a hammer to just right - you'd have to pull each 
> key a time or two for the tapping. Then fix the whole set of them with 
> some thin CA glue. Might be how they did it in the factory ('cept for the 
> CA).
>
> Tom Cole
>
> John Ross wrote:
>
>> Unfortunately Ron, I can't escape this one. It is one that was donated to 
>> my Legion, and I tune it for free, once a year.
>> I was hoping a special tool was available.
>> It is playable, just a few need the excess lost motion taken out.
>> I don't tune it again till next November. I will go the cheap, free to 
>> them way, of gluing something onto the "capstans", for the real bad ones.
>> If the rest of the piano was in good shape, I would donate installation 
>> of capstans. But it is not, so cheap is the way to go.
>> I am surprised, that no one else has run into a piano, with this excuse 
>> for a capstan.
>> John M. Ross
>> Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
>> jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ron Nossaman" <rnossaman@cox.net>
>> To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
>> Sent: Friday, June 24, 2005 6:10 PM
>> Subject: Re: How to adjust let-off with no adjustable capstan?
>>
>>
>>>> Hi Ron.
>>>>
>>>> Bah, and then, if you were a sculptor, would you choose clay (sooo 
>>>> easy) or marble (sooo difficult) for your next masterpiece ?  What 
>>>> would you
>>>> make tend toward one or the other material ?
>>>
>>>
>>> I'd chose the clay for playing with, and the marble for the finished 
>>> work (unless I cast the clay in bronze), but this is an entirely 
>>> different thing. We aren't making a masterpiece with this old capstan 
>>> challenged upright. It's a no pay, maximum aggravation, zero expectation 
>>> lost cause that realistically passed it's life expectancy many 
>>> (manymanymany) years ago. If I was trapped into adjusting lost motion in 
>>> this critter, I'd just cut my losses, add real capstans, and escape as 
>>> quickly, cheaply, and thoroughly as possible with a promise to myself to 
>>> do everything I could to avoid being in that situation again. It doesn't 
>>> always work, naturally, because we always eventually find ourselves in 
>>> another no win situation. It's the nature of us.
>>>
>>>
>>>> Beware, as the answer on this question will tell much about the 
>>>> intimate you.
>>>
>>>
>>> Too late! I'm exposed.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> No peeking.
>>>
>>> Ron N
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
>>>
>>
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>>
>>
>
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