[pianotech] Steinway Leg repair

Terry Farrell mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com
Tue Sep 15 09:12:20 MDT 2009


Oh wow. Good point Ed. I read "bottom of leg is loose" so I just made  
the assumption we had an upright of some sort here. Geeezzz - your  
explanation of grand leg repair makes perfect sense to me now. Sorry  
'bout that Chief!

All right Paul - we are likely talking grand piano here. The light  
bulb just went off in my head. I had been picturing an upright all  
along - a leg that is secured at the top and the bottom. But now I  
understand it is a grand with the standard two-piece leg. Oh gosh.  
Sure. Yup. Everyone is correct and I am WAY out in left field.

I think I'll just tuck my tail between my legs, take some more cold  
medicine and go back to bed. Geeeeeesh!

Phil - I've done this repair before. If I can help you, I'd be happy  
to. It's going to be like Ed first described. I've done it both ways  
where the parts were in good condition and I glued it back together  
and I done it where everything was chewed up and I epoxied it back  
together.

Boy-oh-boy - that's what I get for trying to think.......

Terry Farrell


On Sep 15, 2009, at 10:38 AM, Ed Foote wrote:

> Greetings,
>   I wrote about the leg repair inre a grand piano leg, if it was an  
> upright, things are different.  The following is for grands:
>>>    The Steinway legs are assembled with a large, (approx. 1 1/4  
>>> inch) dowel between the leg and the plinth,(top part).
> Terry asks:
>
> 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.
>
> I had always been told that the upper part of the leg was a plinth,  
> but that is a classical architecture term.  I meant the part that  
> comes in contact with the bottom of the piano case
>
>  "    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.
>
>    >> 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?
>
>>> MAKE SURE YOU ARE GLUING BACK IN THE SAME DIRECTION!
>>>
>>> >>Gluing what back in what same direction?
>    Don't reverse the top part, put it back in the original  
> configuration.
>
>>> 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.
>     Below the surface of the mounting plate.
>
>    If this was a Steinway upright, everything is different.  The  
> uprights have a mortise in the bottom of the leg that slide fits  
> over a triangular wedge attached to the bottom extension. The top is  
> usually just screwed to the underside of the keybed with two metal  
> brackets.
>>
>> Ed Foote RPT
>> http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
>>
>>
>
> =

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