twisting front rail key pins

[Porritt, David]

You're not missing anything.  That's the reason the front rail pins are
oblong and now round.  Replacing the bushings is a better solution but
in a pinch I've turned quite a few!

 

dp

 

David M. Porritt

dporritt at smu.edu

________________________________

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On
Behalf Of Tom Sivak
Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2006 10:31 AM
To: pianotech
Subject: twisting front rail key pins

 

List

 
I've always been told, "Don't twist the front key pins to eliminate side
motion on keys that have the key bushings worn out."  And I've always
accepted that.

 

Last week I was at a composer/friend's house.  He has a 1930s Kimball
grand, really worn out.  I did a full regulation on the piano, and he
didn't want to pay for new key bushings, so I twisted them, and the
difference is wonderful.  No side play on the keys, feels like a million
bucks.

 

Now I understand it would be unethical to do that to a piano and then
sell it, hiding a problem, but what's wrong with improving the play of a
piano by doing the same?  Sure, it may accelerate wear on the bushings,
but the bushings are worn out now!  They need replacing already.  All
this does is extend the deadline and make the piano play much better
until D Day comes.

 

Am I missing something?  What's the down side to this?

Tom Sivak

Chicago

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