Everett Pinblock Repair

[Lonnie Young]

Dave,

That's true, these days you wonder if there will be a factory tomorrow to
get parts from.

Lonnie Young

 -----Original Message-----
From: 	owner-caut@ptg.org [mailto:owner-caut@ptg.org]  On Behalf Of David M.
Porritt
Sent:	Friday, January 25, 2002 10:50 AM
To:	caut@ptg.org
Subject:	RE: Everett Pinblock Repair

Lonnie:

One note about the factory worker tightening the pressure bar without
lowering the tension.  If the pressure bar breaks, he can just get
another and keep going.  If you or I break one......

dave

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 1/25/2002 at 10:32 AM Lonnie Young wrote:

>Jeff,
>
>I've done them before without lowering the pitch.  I used to never
think
>that pressure bar screws could be tightened with out lowering the
pitch
>until I saw a worker do it in the Wurlitzer factory were I used to
work. Of
>course the pitch then had to be lowered anyway!
>
>I also found out by accident a trick for tightening the bolts.  One
day a
>coworker and I were working on one of these projects and he began to
tap on
>the head of the bolt with a hammer while I was tightening the nut.
Every
>time he hit the bolt I was able to get an extra 1/4 turn on the nut.
 I
>know
>it sounds crazy but it worked.  We pulled all the gap out.  Which by
the
>way
>won't hurt a thing if it does not completely close the crack as long
as it
>is stable.  Also it is important to either get the drilling chips
out of
>the
>crack or clamp it together if possible before drilling.
>
>Lonnie Young
>The University of Southern Miss
>Hattiesburg, MS
> -----Original Message-----
>From: 	owner-caut@ptg.org [mailto:owner-caut@ptg.org]  On Behalf Of
>Lawrence
>Becker
>Sent:	Friday, January 25, 2002 9:36 AM
>To:	caut@ptg.org
>Subject:	Re: Everett Pinblock Repair
>
>At 10:11 AM 1/25/02, you wrote:
>>List,
>>I've got a handful of old Everett studios, some of which have the
pinblock
>>pulling away problem.  These pianos aren't currently in critical
>situations
>>and are more or less surplus, so they don't receive a lot of
attention.
>>But we're considering "loaning" some to other entities on campus
for
>>informal use, and I'd be responsible for maintaining them.  I could
loan
>>them old Hamiltons, but I'd rather keep those here for music
students.
>>
>>Is it absolutely necessary to lower the tension to do the repair of
>>replacing the pinblock screws with bolts which go all the way
through the
>>frame? or can one leave the tension up and simply clamp each
section
>during
>>the process?
>>
>>I'm trying to keep time spent to a minimum.  If I have to lower
tension,
>>that increases the risk of string breakage and subsequent repair,
meaning
>>more frequent trips across campus after delivery for retuning.  If
it's
>>going to be more trouble than it's worth, I'll just send a
Hamilton.
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Jeff
>>
>>Jeff Tanner
>>Piano Technician
>>School of Music
>>University of South Carolina
>>Columbia, SC 29208
>>(803)-777-4392 (phone)
>
>Jeff-
>
>I have repaired a few of these Everetts with the separation.  After
the
>first couple, I thought to save time by not lowering string tension,
but
>found that the C-clamps I was using were not strong enough to close
the gap
>against the pull of the strings at tension.  So, I went back to
lowering
>tension.  The lowering doesn't take much time, and the piano was
going to
>need a pitch raise anyway, so I figured I wasn't out much more than
an
>extra hour.  Plus, I couldn't figure how to do the job without it
anyhow.
>
>I still clamped a section at a time, drilling out the lag screw
hole,
>released tension to spread the glue, then re clamping, installing
and
>tightening the new bolt.  (I just don't like drilling through wet
>glue.)  Then on to the next section.  The new bolt holds well enough
to
>keep the gap closed until the glue dries.  Then next day, pull back
up to
>tension.  Good, stable repair.  There was a Journal article in finer
detail
>awhile back.
>
>I never had string breakage problems, but I was extra careful with
the
>coils in the low bass.  After a couple tunings, these pianos are
more
>stable than they were before the repair.
>
>----------------------------------
>Lawrence Becker, RPT
>Piano Technician
>College-Conservatory of Music
>University of Cincinnati
>----------------------------------


_____________________________
David M. Porritt
dporritt@mail.smu.edu
Meadows School of the Arts
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, TX 75275
_____________________________