[pianotech] Yamaha Butt Spring Cord Jig

[Dean May]

Hi Joe

Thanks for your witty response. It brings me a smile! :-)

>>Yes, Dean, it is really butt ugly.<G> However, if it got the job done, so
be it.  I do have a few "qualms".<G> 1. How can anyone own such a crappy
work bench?!! Even in my poverty days, (slightly lower than now.<G>), my
bench was of a better quality than that! Whoa! Times must really be tough!.


Hey, I love my crappy work bench! I love being able to run a screw into it,
drill a hole, spill glue, etc. If I need a really nice surface I just lay
down a double wide pin plank.

 >>2. I really object to the use of CA glue for this, if you're doing the
whole set!. Have you tried to undo that? Rotsauck with that my friend.
Yeah, it's a Yamama, but I'll bet that it will need that job again before
the piano goes tits up!. Pity the poor SOB that has to undo that CA glue
mess! TSK! TSK! I do know you were kidding, but wow<G>

Actually, I had to redo a couple, and the flush trim saw did a real nice job
of cleaning the CA out of the groooves. Not to worry, though, I think the
braided Dacron will last a few more years than that OEM cotton thread. 

>> However, to quote my olde Mentor, if it gets the job done: "don't argue
with success".<G> I do like the concepts however. Making a permanent Jig
would have been more appropriate, as I suspect you'll have to do that again.
That way, it would simply be a matter of getting the Jig off the shelf and
putting it in the vise...ready to do again. That's what I did and how I
approach any job that I suspect I'll have to repeat, somewhere down the
road. If nothing else, whoever inherits my shop will use it.<G> BTW, always
label the Jig. I have a few, I didn't do that to, and now I can't remember
what the hell they were for! <G>Megabrainfarts!.

Been there, done that. :-)  This is only the 2nd or 3rd Yamaha that I've
done in the last 10 years that didn't have the butt plates. I really didn't
want to take the time to make a separate jig. For now I have the nails
covered with Styrofoam blocks, as I think I have another job in the wings.
So maybe I should have made that a permanent jig. Dang!

I know! I'll just cut that part of my workbench out and slap a new piece of
OSB down in its place. :-)

The main thing I wanted to do with my post is to show the lurkers who
wouldn't  think about tackling such a job that it can be done pretty easily.
I don't normally conceptualize how to make jigs very easily so I really
appreciate it when you all post pictures of things you have made. This one
was made very quickly with a couple of nails and a trap spring with an extra
hole drilled in it. At its simplest, a jig locates a part and firmly holds
it in place while the work is being performed. 

Dean

PS: I apologize for the size of the email. I upgraded to Outlook 2010 and it
won't play nice with my Word 2003, so I couldn't figure out how to shrink
the size of the pictures easily.