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David
WOW! Thanks for the informative list. I'm printing it out for the 3
apprentices in shop. No wonder I no longer wish to twist every screw in the shop
myself. Iv used a Milwaukee /batt. operated screwdriver for years. It has
saved my sanith & wrists. No wonder I'm all screwed up.
Dale Erwin
Dear Friends,
About a month ago I was doing a prep on an older Kawai KG-2A grand piano
and tightened all of the bolts and screws on the piano. Just for fun I
counted all of the screws and bolts I tightened, probably because I am
compulsive! I realize this may be a big waste of your time, but I do have
a few questions at the end.
There are a bunch of screws on a grand piano! I think you could probably
break it down into 3 categories.
1. Case (Pinblock, Plate, Bench, hinge and hardware screws and
bolts. This would be all of the bolts and screws that are accessible
without getting on your hands and knees or without opening up the action).
2. Action Screws (Action, keyframe, spring and action cavity
screws. Including all screws accessible inside the action cavity).
3. Undercarriage Screws (Leg, Lyre, trapwork, etc. All of the bolts and
screws underneath the piano)
Here for your amazement and amusement is a list of the screws I tightened.
1. Case
Bench - 4 bolts and 32 screws
Music Desk - 62 screws
Top Lid long hinge - 44 screws
Lid log - 8 screws
Side hinges on top lid - 18 screws
Lid prop cups - 3 screws
lid prop hardware - 4 screws
Music desk guides (on inner rim of piano) - 6 screws
Through plate into stretcher - 3 screws
plate web - 23 screws
plate perimeter - 7 screws
2. Action
leg plates, spring, and key cover hardware - 25 screws
key upstop rail - 4 screws
Damper underlever flange - 69 screws
Damper tray - 4 screws
hammer flange - 88 screws
wippen flange - 88 screws
action brackets - 10 screws
Action rails - 20 screws
hammer rebound rail - 10 screws and nuts
underside of keyframe - 17 screws
3.. Undercarriage
Rear leg plate - 8 screws
Lyre braces and lyre - 12
Trapwork - 12 screws
Keybed - 22 screws
leg and lyre bolts - 8 bolts
keycover - 6 screws
cheek blocks - 4 screws
keyslip - 15 screws
It makes sense to me that if I keep the screws tight it will benefit the
piano by eliminating noise, improving tone and volume, keeping parts
aligned and keeping the piano from falling apart.
1. How critical is it to tighten all of these screws?
I would guess that on a concert grand, you would do all of this at least
once a year, but for other pianos it may not be as important (unless the
customer wants to pay for it). And on a Winter spinet it would never get
done because the piano never gets tuned anyway, let alone any cleaning or
tightening!
2. Does anyone keep track of this for the pianos you service? For a
school with many pianos, it would be easy to forget which pianos you
tightened and which pianos still need tightening. I am thinking of making
a list of all the pianos and each time I tune, picking an area and
tightening all the screws in one area, such as tightening all case
screws. Then next time, I will see on the list that I need to tighten the
action screws. And eventually all the undercarriage screws would be
tightened. This would make sure that the work gets done on every piano on
a rotating basis.
Just rambling thoughts! Have a nice day
David Vanderhoofven
Registered Piano Technician
Erwins Pianos Restorations
4721 Parker Rd.
Modesto, Ca 95357
209-577-8397
Rebuilt Steinway , Mason &Hamlin Sales
www.Erwinspiano.com
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