Hi, Rob: Well, I would just remove the shank, with whatever method works for you. I do like your suggestion using the screw/heat etc. Use a sharp drill and remove any glue residue in the hole. Often, the preferred method of removal doesn't work, and you're left with having to drill it out. Use care to drill it straight. Glue in the shank, mount the flange to the rail, and using a shank cutter, cut slivers off the end of the shank until you can get the (dry) fit you need. Then just glue the hammer onto the shank and you're done. If you drill a tiny hole into the hammer for allowing the excess glue to escape, it helps. When gluing in the shank to the butt, make sure it's parallel to the others and that the catcher lines up with the others when the shank is resting on the rest rail. In other words, the hole in the butt has to be cleared of any debris, and if it's a little oversized, the centerline of the shank may not match the centerline of the hammer butt and the catcher may sag below the other ones. Sometimes I've had to support the catcher while the glue hardens. With your action in the piano, this may be tricky to do. For the sake of your sanity, if you have to remove the action, just bite the bullet and do it. It will make your life easier in the long run. Trying to repair the spinet action in the piano is such a pain that I've resigned myself to removing the action in many cases. Spinet repair is a pain in the ... (fill in the blank). Are you having fun yet? Good luck Paul McCloud San Diego > [Original Message] > From: Rob McCall <rob at mccallpiano.com> > To: <pianotech at ptg.org> > Date: 10/10/2009 10:54:44 PM > Subject: [pianotech] Broken hammer shank on a Yamaha Spinet > > Greetings list, > > I serviced a 1967 Yamaha Spinet today that was in remarkably good > condition, except for one small item. The owner's grandson somehow > opened the lid a while back and grabbed A#4 by the hammer and broke it > off. It's broken very close to the hammer butt, so I plan on using the > Spurlock method with the drywall screw, wallpaper paste remover, heat, > etc. to remove the remnant still left in the hammer butt. > > I've attached a photo of what it currently looks like. The extra glob > of glue is from the owner's attempt to use gorilla glue to fix it. He > said it worked for about 10 notes and then broke again. I have a new > hammer shank I'm going to use. > > My problem is this... Normally I would glue one end into the hammer > butt and then dry fit the hammer so the height matches the neighboring > hammers. I would then cut off the excess above the top edge of the > hammer. This hammer, though, is not drilled all the way through, so > that option is out. (see photo) > > I could attach the hammer to the shank and then dry fit the butt end, > trim as necessary and then glue, but I don't want to attempt to glue > the shank in place when it's way down into the drop action. I'm > afraid of getting glue on something I don't want way down in the abyss > of the action. > > I could also remove the butt/flange and glue the shank outside of the > action once the correct length has been determined and then put it > back in, but getting to the flange screw is a royal pain in the... > well... hammer butt. It almost takes one of those "cirque du soleil" > feats of body twisting to use a thin screwdriver from underneath the > keybed, between the stickers, while holding the top part from above > the action. > > So... I'm trying to find an easier way to get the correct length > without getting glue all over the place or having to remove and > replace the butt flange multiple times. Any ideas, sequences, or > tricks? Other than hire an apprentice, that is? :-) > > > Rob McCall > McCall Piano Service, LLC > Murrieta, CA > > rob at mccallpiano.com > www.mccallpiano.com > 951-698-1875 >
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