Brass Rail to Wood Flange Conversion

[John Ross]

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When I visualized this repair, as originally discussed, I always =
assumed, an Asian type flange would be used.
That way the rod better places the flange.
In this picture rod seems to leave a little bit of wiggle room.
Or am I missing something?
John M. Ross
Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Farrell=20
  To: pianotech@ptg.org=20
  Sent: Monday, January 30, 2006 4:01 PM
  Subject: Brass Rail to Wood Flange Conversion


  This was a topic a little while back that seemed to spur some =
interest, so I thought I would follow up the latest. I converted the =
brass hammer butt rail on an old M&H upright to wooden flanges via the =
Bill Spurlock method. Worked very well, except for one thing on this =
piano - I don't know how many others might be similarly affected.=20

  Look at the two pictures below. I think it is fairly easy to identify =
the nice new white hard maple wood that I added to the original rail - =
right on top and flush with the back side of the hammer butt flange.

  Before I added the maple piece, everything went together well, except =
that I noticed a few flanges/action-centers a little out of line with =
the others. The top edge of the rail was a tiny bit chewed up in those =
locations and the upper flat part of the flange that mates with the rail =
wasn't even touching the rail - all of it was above the rail. So the =
only thing that was helping to kinda keep the flange in place was the =
brass wire - but that was quickly indenting into the wood flange and the =
flange was moving inward. I pondered a solution for.... well, longer =
than I care to admit. Then after putting two brains together (Phil Bondi =
and I - alright, maybe 1-1/2 brains - and Phil ain't the one a =
half-sandwich short of a picnic) - we also theorized that without some =
kind of good support on the upper part of that flange, not only can the =
flange migrate inward over time a bit becuase of a lack of support for =
the flange surface, but when that hammer strikes the string - we =
wondered how the lack of a stable/secure base to the flange might cause =
a loss of tone - kinda like having a hammer rail made of Styrofoam or at =
least flange screws being loose or an action center that is too loose - =
I know those factors can cause a lack of power/tone.

  So, we thought that beefing up the rail with as wide a piece of maple =
as we could fit between the front edge of the damper flanges and the =
back side of the butt flanges would help to stabilize/strengthen the =
butt flanges and hence the whole hammer assembly.

  I'm far from putting it in the piano, but I think this modification =
will be of benefit. Time will tell.

  Terry Farrell

  The photo below is down at the bass end of the rail. Just one butt =
flange is in place so that the added maple piece can be seen. The maple =
plug is an artifact of plugging the holes in the rail where the original =
brass butt rail was screwed to the rail.



  The photo below is looking down the long axis of the rail at the bass =
end.




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