Joe: That jig is slicker than nose jam. Will Truitt From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Joe DeFazio Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 2:13 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Moving 4 legged consoles and spinets Hi Ryan, About two nights before I first had to move one of these buggers without much help, I got a little nervous thinking about how to do it safely. So, I went down to the shop and cobbled together this: It is a platform that attaches to a piano dolly via three upside-down L shaped cleats (one in the front and two in the rear). The cleats are attached via slots to the 1/4-20 knobs/studs that you see on the bottom rectangular board, which sits on the two dolly rails. To install it onto the dolly takes well under a minute: you loosen the knobs, slide the knobs/cleats inward, place the rectangular base on the dolly rails, slide the knobs outward so that the "L" cleats grab the rails from underneath, and tighten the knobs. (If I had thought a little more clearly while making it, two cleats could be fixed, and only one could slide/loosen/tighten, but then it wouldn't necessarily center on dollies of different sizes, or be tight on dollies with rails of different thicknesses.) It's even faster to remove it from the dolly. The triangular base of the support leaves room for the pedals, and distributes downward force from the weight of the keybed to the edges of the dolly, which reduces stress on the dolly's front rail (as compared to a simple vertical member). The upper support is height adjustable via a sliding dovetail. To find the correct height, measure the distance from the underside of the bottom board (not from the floor) to the underside of the keybed, and set the height of the support that distance above the height of the dolly end members. There is a scale on the vertical part of the support so I don't have to measure every time (you can't see it in these photos; it's on the other side of the vertical member). In actual use, I don't have to adjust the height very often. It is quite easy to strap the piano securely to the dolly once this support is installed, although it is often not necessary to do so. This platform may or may not help you with steps, but It has saved my bacon on several occasions, and turns a potentially nerve-wracking move into a routine one. Joe DeFazio Pittsburgh P.S. - yes, that dolly itself is a homemade one that I made the night before my very first piano move; it seems that practically every jig or home-made tool in my shop was made the night before some job was due to be completed, or the night before it would be needed in a client's home.... From: Ryan Sowers <tunerryan at gmail.com> Date: June 14, 2009 1:09:17 PM EDT To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: [pianotech] Moving 4 legged consoles and spinets Reply-To: pianotech at ptg.org Hello gang, I was helping some friends move their piano yesterday and it was one of those 4 legged consoles with the narrow bottom and the grand style pedal lyre. It did not want to sit on the dolly (I use a standard New Haven dolly) very securely. You really had to hold onto it for it not to tip over towards the keybed side of the piano. It had to go up 8 steps to the second floor of their new house. Fun stuff! Strapping the piano to the dolly helped some. but it was still precarious. I had moved one like this years ago (it was a Weaver) and I ended up putting the whole piano on plywood and then on the dolly. It was a pain but was somewhat more steady. Any tips on moving these awkward instruments?? -- Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter Olympia, WA www.pianova.net _______________________________________________ pianotech mailing list pianotech at ptg.org http://ptg.org/mailman/listinfo/pianotech -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20090615/796199eb/attachment-0001.htm> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 34642 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20090615/796199eb/attachment-0002.jpeg> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 35502 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20090615/796199eb/attachment-0003.jpeg>
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