<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Re: [CAUT] Re: Steinway Damper sytem upgrade &= redesign</TITLE></HEAD> <BODY> Fred, My apologies to= Joe...;-]    Yeah, but I can permanently fix= the problem and certainly get more friction relief than your= method AND I can charge $150 for the work...;-]  = The job usually takes less than= an hour for me.   I charge $100 if I'm there tuning= the piano.   I make up numerous pitmans of slightly= vairing length in the shop.   I can also= shim with shoe leather under the lever if necessary.=  I use a Forstner bit and it is a bit of a struggle to get= it started.  The dowel in the hole is a good idea and= believe or not I haven't been using it...I press the drill up= and with a little chattering get it started...yeah it makes a= few marks near the hole.   Block of wood on top for a= clean hole.  I don't have to pull the lyre...which on a= Steinway is a little of a pain to re-install.   I= drill right into the leather under the tray and in the= lever...3/4" forstner.   It gives me a clear idea of= where the dowel should go...graphited depression.  Then the= leather comes off.  I put a drop= cloth down under the piano so the plush carpet doesn't= complain...not to mention graphite powder on the= carpet.   I've got a kit to do the job and= I don't even think about...as I said before, I've never= had a customer concern about drilling the existing hole= bigger.  Don't your customers worry about your drilling a= hole in the tray and lever?  Or don't you mention= that?...;-] David I.       David "loves to eat sawdust"= Ilvedson      ----- Original= message ----------------------------------------> From:= Fred Sturm <<A= href="mailto:fssturm@unm.edu">fssturm@unm.edu</A>> To: "<A= href="mailto:ilvey@sbcglobal.net">ilvey@sbcglobal.net</A>,= College and University Technicians" <<A= href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">caut@ptg.org</A>> Received:= Mon, 08 Nov 2004 13:24:36 -0700 Subject: Re: [CAUT] Re:= Steinway Damper sytem upgrade & redesign On 11/8/04 12:54 PM, "David= Ilvedson" <ilvey@sbcglobal.net> wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE>Joe, If you are not having= any noise over the long term, hey sounds good.   The= whole idea is to eliminate the rubbing of the top and bottom of= the pitman against the tray and lever.  I still visulize= rubbing in your retro-fit.   The punching works= similar to the Baldwin setup and eliminates any rubbing.=   I've never had a customer mention any concern with= the hole in the bottom of the piano, but I think if they were to= take a look under the piano they might just see some other holes= already there and the piano seems to be OK...;-]=    I take it your removing the bushing cloth in= the original hole?   Never having any clearance= problems?   I will admit drilling under the piano is a= pain with sawdust in the face... David= Ilvedson </BLOCKQUOTE> Actually,= it’s Fred, not Joe <g>. Yes, I remove the bushing cloth= for more clearance. Sawdust on the face goes together with= sawdust on the dark green plush carpet, the noise of drilling= into the prized possession – people have these emotional= connections, and you have to respect them.. And there’s a good= bit of extra work to the “Scott Jones design retrofit”: find a= way to center the larger bit (sometimes you can finesse a= Forstner, but for safety’s sake you need to install a piece of= dowel in the hole as a centering devise, and drill it out along= with the extra keybed wood); remove leather and drill shallow= holes in trapwork underlever and bottom of tray. Lot’s more= sawdust and time than bringing a prepared substitute pitman,= removing the bushing cloth, drilling a hole through the tray= leather into the  tray and similarly into the trap lever,= and installing the pitman. It can even be done without removing= the action. 10  - 15 minute job (plus a similar amount of= shop time cutting the rod and drilling and pinning it, including= set up and put away).     I do prefer the= Scott Jones design (I think he was the one who came up with it= when he was in R & D at S & S), so if I’ve got the piano= apart for another reason I’ll do that. But for someone= complaining of too heavy a pedal, or where pitman rubbing is= causing excess noise, and where time and effort are at a= premium, my method is fast, effective, and= long-lasting.     You do have to fudge= the placement of the pinned pitman toward front or back to avoid= rubbing (I forget which – I’d need to be under a piano to= visualize it, I’m thinking back), but there’s plenty of room.= There’s no rubbing except for the pins at the end of the pitman= in the holes (which need to be a bit oversized for the purpose).= Hey, it’s the same design Yamaha and much of the rest of the= world uses. Regards, Fred Sturm University of New= Mexico <FONT= color=#0000ff>http://music.unm.edu/about/staff_members/fred_s= _sturm.php "There is more to life than increasing= its speed." Gandhi </BODY></HTML>