[pianotech] screwed but good

Tom Sivak tvaktvak at sbcglobal.net
Thu Jan 8 18:13:36 PST 2009


List

This is an embarrassing question, but I'd guess I'd rather be embarrassed on the list, than in front of a client.

What do you do when you can't take apart something because the screws are too tight?   This has happened to me on cheek block screws, lyre screws, and now, a pedal box.  

The piano is a Wurlitzer, a Chinese import, less than 10 years old.  The damper pedal is loose in its housing---it moves horizontally in addition to vertically---and the only way to repair it is to take the pedal box apart.  

There are four big brass Phillips-head screws on the bottom that I cannot get the screws to budge.  Not one of them.   They're brass screws in some kind of whitish metal---could be aluminum?  Not sure.

In the past, I felt that part of the problem was "the right tool for the right job".  I didn't have any BIG screwsdrivers to take on the cheek block screws, or the lyre screws.

So this time, I went and bought a BIG screwdriver in hopes of getting a better fit and a little more leverage, but no luck.  I tried putting a little Protek on the screws.  Nope.  

Any suggestions?  I'd hate to have to tell the client I couldn't fix the problem because I couldn't get the pedal box open.  He might kick sand in my face.

Weakly,

Tom Sivak
Chicago





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