[CAUT] TIP OF THE YEAR!/ 4 books

[Alan McCoy]

Yikes!!!! Flattered to be mentioned in that list, but clearly not in the
same league. Next lifetime perhaps, unless, of course, I come back as a bug.

Actually I am working on an encyclopedia-type project, but it's more along
the lines of an online collaborative tool for technicians (junkies or not).
More structured than a wiki, but still organic, fluid and evolving.

Demo in KC this summer.

Alan


> From: Jim Busby <jim_busby at byu.edu>
> Reply-To: "College and University Technicians <caut at ptg.org>" <caut at ptg.org>
> Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2006 11:56:52 -0700
> To: "College and University Technicians <caut at ptg.org>" <caut at ptg.org>
> Conversation: [CAUT] TIP OF THE YEAR!/ 4 books
> Subject: Re: [CAUT] TIP OF THE YEAR!/ 4 books
> 
> Hi Mark,
> 
> I second that nomination. I took a stack that was traveled the "old" way
> and saw so much more was needed when I turned it over. Great tip!
> 
> Hey Fred, I'd pay big bucks for the first copy of your book!
> 
> Four books I'd like to see; (I'd gladly pay, say, $1,000.00 for a copy.)
> 1. Fred Sturm's Complete Manual of Piano Servicing and Repair
> 2. Ron Nossaman's Technical Guide to Functional Piano "Re-design"
> 3. Del Fandrich; Piano Designers Secrets of the Craft, Revealed...
> (Oooo)
> 4. Alan McCoy; Encyclopedia of Influential technicians of the 20th
> Century. Including Notes, Tips, and Memoirs from; Fred Drasche, Del
> Fandrich, Ron Nossaman, Fred Sturm, Ted Sambell, Ben McLeveen, Jim
> Colman Sr., George Defebaugh, etc. etc. etc. (Kind of a "The Piano Book"
> for tech junkies)
> 
> Yes. I AM serious!... :-)
> 
> Jim Busby
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of
> Mark Cramer
> Sent: Wednesday, December 27, 2006 3:38 PM
> To: CAUT
> Cc: Trevor Nelson; Robert Haist; Ted Sambell; Albert Picknell; Mark
> Cramer
> Subject: [CAUT] TIP OF THE YEAR!
> 
> I would like to nominate and thank Fred Sturm, for what I humbly
> consider
> the BEST TIP shared this year;
> 
> "Upside-down flange-travelling" (lay the stack hammers face down, then
> rock
> it between hammer-rest and let-off contact to observe hammer travel)
> 
> With Fred's method, it was easy to get accurate results the very first
> time,
> and I soon noticed a relationship between the lateral movement of the
> hammers, and thickness of my favourite travel tape (3M #651 Post-it:
> Correction & Cover-up tape);
> 
> i.e.: 1mm travel = 1 full strip of travel tape... 1/2mm travel = 1/2
> strip,
> etc.
> 
> My assistants love it! Anything that makes a routine task fun without
> sacrificing precision is win-win. Nonetheless we still do a final
> paranoia
> visual-check with the stack right-side up.
> 
> A further bonus is that Fred's method seems to work equally well
> pre-travelling new shanks:
> 
> New shanks often have a vertical line through the end of the shank. By
> transfering these lines to the bench, then tilting/propping the action
> at
> let-off contact, it's possible to "one-time" all your flange travelling,
> just by measuring/observing the deflection from the original lines.
> (I'll
> attach a photo)
> 
> And I guess the final benchmark with any new tip is longevity. Suffice
> it to
> say, after how many months using Fred's method, no-one here has any
> interest
> in going back to "old school."
> 
> So "thanks Fred" for sharing this valuable tip, and to everyone who
> participated in our CAUT discussions all year. I've learned much, saved
> myself some potentially frustating mistakes and  been kindly provoked to
> re-think more than one of my tired old opinions. ;>)
> 
> Best wishes to all,
> Mark Cramer,
> Brandon University
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>