[CAUT] key-easing pliers?

[Mark Cramer]

Thanks all!

(Mr.) Bill mentioned sizing leather with a drum sander a number of years
back. Ironically, this was right about the time I stopped "liking" leather,
so we never did tool up.

The results with our current stock (Renner) have been quite precise, so any
touch-up with pliers has been done with much sober fore-thought, and
thankfully, quite minimal.

However the guys had pointed out waste from thickness changes near the ends
of the strip, and from what you all tell me, I think the drum sander will
correct all that.

(Hey Ed, what grit is on your drum... and can we do hi-speed manicures?)

BTW, Bill's system is absolutely beautiful! I think we started with the
cauls in 95 (?) then added the heated-broach system (thank-you Master
Wolfenden!) from Pianotek, and finally the mortise-sizing cauls, whenever
they became available.

With the control over key-pin, mortice and cloth sizing, so little variable
remains. We record the cloth and heating broach size (as many of you do)
right on the key-board and in our records.

How much easier this job has become! I'm very grateful for all the
contributors to this process over the years.

My assistants (I have four this summer) re-bush the keys, and it's amazing
to me, given the right person, the level of precision they acheive on the
very first set.

Which pretty much explains "why" we really haven't "needed' any good
key-bushing pliers.

Here's one exception:

When you've done all of the above to perfection, and have one or two keys
that just won't give the right fit with the heated broach, and you've biased
and wiggled the broach from side to side, and you're double-darn sure the
cloth isn't over-length, and there's not the eansiest bit of glue
squeeze-out hiding in there.... then I feel it's permissable to "resize" :>)
the mortice a wee wee bit with the good ol pliers.

The idea being that the next time these bushings are serviced, these keys
will respond identically to their neighbors, with just one pass of the
broach.

BTW, one thing I'm really excited about, but haven't tried yet, is Jim B's
suggestion that the broaches work with leather. I had ruled this possiblity
out with even giving it a second thought.
Will try it on the very next set.

Again, thanks all!

Mark Cramer,
Brandon University











-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org]On Behalf Of
Fred Sturm
Sent: Friday, July 20, 2007 1:52 PM
To: caut
Subject: Re: [CAUT] key-easing pliers?


Hi Mark,
    Getting back to the original question, I like the Pianotek JKE-2 and
similar best (I've bought maybe 8 different designs over the years,
including parallel, etc). I don't find them tiring. A lot has to do with
exactly how wide the handles are while squeezing, and these fit my hand/feel
best. The KPL-4f style are great to have for the purpose (not enough time to
pull the stack, and you need to ease a few), but I don't like them for
general use. Partly because the squeezing part is 1/2 - 2/3 the length of
the mortise, so you really need to do 2 squeezes to each. Sometimes this is
an advantage, when the wood is hard to squeeze - you can be more precise.
But not for everyday, I don't think.
    Bottom line, though, is precision sizing (selecting) of bushings trumps
easing any day, if you are the one doing the bushing (not that we don't need
to do a bit of touch up from time to time). Especially true when bushing
those hard wood buttons on Kawai and others, which don't want to budge with
pliers.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico


On 7/19/07 10:20 AM, "Mark Cramer" <Cramer at brandonu.ca> wrote:

> Since we seem to be rebushing with leather more often, the easing pliers
are
> getting a bit of use.
>
> (Especially when the thickness of a "good" strip of leather can vary by
> .2mm... or more)
>
> We really should have another set of easing pliers, but I'm finding the
> selection a bit confusing. i.e.:
>
> Pianotek: JKE-2 Japanese pliers:
>
> I like the "spartan, bare-bones" appearance, and don't mind the price for
a
> quality tool ($105.00), but w/o springs or lever action, wonder if they're
> kind of tiring to use?
>
> Renner: #1616 (compound/parallel/front-rail access) $120.00
>
> I'm leaning towards these, but would they be a nuisance for the balance
> rail?
>
> (they look quite similar to the Pianotek KPL-4f @ $96.00)
>
> Of all the features I've seen (parallel action, front-rail access,
pivoting
> center-jaw, etc.) all that's really important to me is something that is
> comfortable to use, and sensitive enough to make fine adjustments. I would
> also choose versatility over specialty.
>
> Can anyone offer some "seasoned" recommendations?
>
> thanks!
>
> Mark Cramer,
> Brandon University
>
>
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