Yamaha flanges (was hammer butt springs)

[Jim_Harvey@yca.ccmail.compuserve.com]

     Excellent point(s) Keith. However, I was counting on Yamaha's
     parts consistency, coupled with their 'straight-edge' mentality
     of restoring action performance, when offering this suggestion.

     New thread---

     Discounting any problems with hammer butt spring loops, I find
     myself as the "new" technician in schools where only tuning has
     been done in the past. I'm now faced with repeating cases of
     hammer flange pinning problems on earlier Yamaha studios (those
     with butt plates). With time and neglect (not tightening butt
     plate screws), the pins are now "walking" out of the flanges.
     Obviously, this causes both a predictable and an undesirable
     chain of events.

     Under duress, in once instance I gently pressed all the pins back
     through the opposite side of the flange, then tightened the butt
     plate screws. I did this *knowing* that the pin no longer had a
     point on the end. Regardless of any additional damage *I* may
     have caused, this was a cost-effective, expedient fix under the
     circumstances -- just to make the piano work. The side effects,
     among many other things, was the accelerated wear to the (only)
     bushing being used, compared to the opposite side's bushing now
     being too tight.

     I don't like resolving problems in this manner. I'm confident that
     mine is not a unique "find", especially in school environments. I'm
     aware that I could replace all the flanges (convenient place to tie
     back to to this thread), then keep the butt plate screws tightened.
     However, budgets (and technicians) do change.

     My question then becomes, is there a cost-effective or, at least
     efficient method of dealing with this situation? Is retrofitting
     with new butts (without plates) and flanges in order? What about
     welding, pin dope, c/a glue... just kidding! I'm simply in pursuit
     of the most realistic method of coping.

     Thanks for your thoughts

     Jim Harvey, RPT
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
McGovern (edited)

At this point replacing the broken cord doesn't require any further
disassembly or reassembly, replacing the flanges does (two labor steps
saved).  Also, the cost of replacement flanges is saved.

Reinstalling hammer assemblies with new flanges would require
(professionally speaking)  traveling, filing, spacing, fitting, and voicing
the hammers to the strings, not so with replacing the cord (five more labor
steps saved)

Since I have never done a complete replacement of either process, I can't
say which is faster.  But based on what I have just extrapolated, I would
have to go with replacing the cord first, hands down, before replacing the
flanges.  If there are some missing details, please let me know.