Paul Removing those screws can be very difficult, especially when the cross points wear out. I've had to resort to taking the screws out with a needle nose vice grips in the heads. One of the problems with removing the screws is that the hole in the action bracket is exactly the same size as the shank of the screw, and when the bracket moves away from the plate, the angle causes the screw to jam in the hole. To make it easier to remove the screw, make sure the brackets stays flush with the plate. Once you've got the screws out, there is no reason why you can't replace with with bigger and shorter screws, and drill out the hole a little. But, more importantly, you should drill out the hole in the action bracket at least 2 or even 3 sizes bigger than the shank of the screw, so that you won't have it binding on the action bracket going in, or taking them out again in the future. Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT Piano Tuner/Technician 94-505 Kealakaa Str. Mililani, Oahu, HI 96789 808-349-2943 www.Bleespiano.com Author of: The Business of Piano Tuning available from Potter Press www.pianotuning.com -----Original Message----- From: paul bruesch <paul at bruesch.net> To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org> Sent: Sat, Nov 14, 2009 2:49 pm Subject: [pianotech] Kimball Console Action Holddown Screws I tuned a 1978 Kimball Console the other day. I had to pull the action, which is held to the plate by screws that practically come out the back. I mean really, they seem to be quite excessively long. The action brackets screw to the plate... there is no plastic spacer tube like on Wurlitzer consoles, but the screws are just as long! Plus, their Phillips (calm, Joe G!) heads are just starting to strip a little bit... I had to be very careful to not let my screwdriver slip and make them worse. Question: Is it OK to replace these very long screws with shorter ones? One possible problem I foresee is that I suppose I'd want to go up a diameter size, so I may have to chase the hole in the action bracket. Any good arguments/pointers/suggestions either way? Thanks, Paul Bruesch Stillwater, MN -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20091114/6bf0e6a3/attachment-0001.htm>
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