[pianotech] screwed but good

[Dean May]

You can also get an impact screwdriver: http://tinyurl.com/9c27hy
Hit it with a hammer and it gives a shock torque. 

Dean

Dean May             cell 812.239.3359 

PianoRebuilders.com   812.235.5272 

Terre Haute IN  47802

 

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Tom Sivak
Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2009 9:14 PM
To: pianotech
Subject: [pianotech] screwed but good

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