[pianotech] Steinway Leg repair

[Paul McCloud]

Terry:

                I think you're misunderstanding where the problem lies.  The
part of the leg assembly that attaches to the keybed is drilled with a large
hole.  The actual leg (vertical part) has either a dowel or is turned on a
lathe to make a dowel-like plug on the end to fit the drilled hole.  The
dowel has a slot cut along its length for a wedge.  The lower part of the
leg, as you describe, isn't "loose" in itself, but the joint (dowel in the
hole) is.  It is quite common for this joint to fail, as I have repaired
many of them.  I have  seen legs to poorly made that there is a huge gap
between the hole and the dowel, and no wedge is going to spread the dowel
anywhere near enough.  The fit between the hole and the dowel should not be
loose, or the joint will eventually fail because there will be movement at
the bottom of the dowel as it enters the leg.  Normally I use epoxy to
repair these because normal wood glues aren't suited well when the two wood
surfaces have gaps, as is the case here.  In addition, getting rid of the
old glue in there is troublesome, and if you don't remove it, new wood glue
won't adhere properly and the  joint will eventually fail.

                My $.02.

                Paul McCloud

                 San Dieg0

 

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Terry Farrell
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2009 5:59 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Steinway Leg repair

 

   The Steinway legs are assembled with a large, (approx. 1 1/4 inch) dowel
between the leg and the plinth,(top part). 

 

Hi Ed. I'm obviously bored today - I hope you can bear with me scrutinizing
all these posts. What do you mean by the "top part". A plinth is a base of a
cabinet. Are you talking about the top of the leg - Phil's leg is loose at
the bottom.

 





The dowel will have a wedge driven down into a slot, expanding the dowel in
the hole of the plinth. You will usually damage the parts if the wedge is
not removed prior to disassembly.  

 

Makes sense - just like the dowels in many/most lyres.

 





    The most effective repair is to drill out the wedge with a series of
small, (1/8") holes, and then hammer the dowel and leg out of the socket. 

 

You loose me here. I'm presuming the leg is secured into the bottom of the
keybed at the top and into the "foot" of the cabinet at the bottom of the
leg. (Is there a better term for the horizontal forward extension on the
base of a piano into which the base of a front leg is secured - like on most
old uprights?) You say to hammer the leg out of the socket - are you saying
to remove the leg at the top also?

 





Use another hardwood dowel to do this so that you don't damage the original.

   Clean out the slot, removing all traces of the wedge,and cut a new wedge
to fit.  Make sure there is no glue left on the bottom "shelf" of the leg,
so that upon refitting there is no gap. Assemble with plenty of wood
glue,(Tite-Bond is enough), on the surfaces of the dowel and some on the
shelf. 

 

Yup. Sounds good.





MAKE SURE YOU ARE GLUING BACK IN THE SAME DIRECTION!

 

Gluing what back in what same direction?





   Once the pieces are fitted together very snugly, (it doesn't hurt to use
a pair of bar clamps to insure the joint is fully closed),  hammer the wedge
in with more glue. 

 

Sounds good.





If cut properly, the wedge will be below surface so the plate will fit as
originally intended and the plates will mesh properly.

 

Below the surface of what? The dowel - correct? "So the plate..." what
plate? What plates meshing? The piano plate? The plate for the caster?
Meshing? Totally lost here.

It could well be that my mind is just completely fried - I'm home sick
today. Sorry if I ask too many questions. Thanks for any clarification you
can offer.

 

Terry Farrell

 

On Sep 15, 2009, at 8:31 AM, Ed Foote wrote:





Greetings,
   The Steinway legs are assembled with a large, (approx. 1 1/4 inch) dowel
between the leg and the plinth,(top part). 
The dowel will have a wedge driven down into a slot, expanding the dowel in
the hole of the plinth. You will usually damage the parts if the wedge is
not removed prior to disassembly.  
    The most effective repair is to drill out the wedge with a series of
small, (1/8") holes, and then hammer the dowel and leg out of the socket.
Use another hardwood dowel to do this so that you don't damage the original.

   Clean out the slot, removing all traces of the wedge,and cut a new wedge
to fit.  Make sure there is no glue left on the bottom "shelf" of the leg,
so that upon refitting there is no gap. Assemble with plenty of wood
glue,(Tite-Bond is enough), on the surfaces of the dowel and some on the
shelf. MAKE SURE YOU ARE GLUING BACK IN THE SAME DIRECTION!
   Once the pieces are fitted together very snugly, (it doesn't hurt to use
a pair of bar clamps to insure the joint is fully closed),  hammer the wedge
in with more glue.  If cut properly, the wedge will be below surface so the
plate will fit as originally intended and the plates will mesh properly. 
Regards, 
   

 

Ed Foote RPT
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html

 

  

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20090915/e8363c35/attachment.htm>