balance rail pins

[Roger Jolly]

At 06:23 PM 11/24/97 -0500, you wrote:
>List,
>While rebushing a set of keys to a 20 yr old Baldwin 6'er,
>I noticed the pin was rubbing on the keystick below the bushing.
>I removed some wood with a bit in my Dremel tool and rebushed.
>
>I also noticed the hole in the button was off center and looked at the
>balance rail pins; they too mostly leaned to one side. As if they'd been
>left out in a high wind for a while.
>
>What can of worms is awaiting me if I replace the buttons and straighten
>the pins?
>Or will it just relieve some of the friction left-over after repinning the
>flanges.
>
>Also, which rig is best for this button replacement? 
>I have others to do in the near future.
>
>Thanks,
>
>
>Jon Page
>Harwich Port, Cape Cod, Mass. (jpage@capecod.net)
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>	
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Hi Jon,
          I use a Jarras key button jig and have had very satisfactory
results.
If you are going to rebutton the keys, you have a golden opportunity to
dramatically improve the action, but you need to check out a few things first.
1. Are the shoes correctly centred? I have seen some units where this has
been the problem, not the buttons.
2. Is the balance rail bushing parallel with the front of the key? This is
extremely important.  If not parallel, the key will actually twist or roll
in it's operation, causing a slight spongy feel that will inhibit
repetition, and cause excessive wear of the bushing.

 If the problem is just the buttons proceed as follows.

Purchase good quality hard maple key button sets, The type I use are 3"
long and laquered, I have found them to have a superior quality of bushing
material and are very hard and stable.

Get a good protractor to measure the angle of key off set.
1 Dozen, wide jaw spring clamps.
4 oz bottle of gap filling Hot Stuff.
 
 Starting from one end of the key board, measure the off set and improvise
a fence for a band saw to the same angle. cut the first button and check
dry fit with the jig and key, if the alignment is good I normally cut 6
pieces at a time. Apply CA glue and clamp.
 One word of caution, keep checking alignment and angles. Then double check!!

 When you reinstall the keys on the frame, don't be alarmed that they are
leaning left and right. Straighten the balance rail pins to square up the
fronts of the keys in the down position. Place your hand on the back checks
and watch for the fronts of the keys to see that they travel in a parallel
manner, correct the front rail pins as required.
 Check the spacing at the rear of the keys,  use a steam iron in a vice to
bend the keys that need spacing, heat to be applied at the balance rail
hole area.
 Invert action stack on the bench. Use a damp cloth and steam out the
dimple in the wippen cloth. If you don't, the job has repositioned the
capstan on some wips and not others, I have found the regulation to be much
more consistant by doing this extra operation.
 If the piano is in heavy teaching use, you might want to replace the
damper lift felt, due to the fact that the tails of some keys are in a worn
spot and others are on fresh felt, creating uneven damper lift.
 Trying to explain this operation with out the aid of pictures or my hands
is not so easy.

 The first time I replaced a set of buttons, it took me a day and a half,
now it is a half day job. It is one of the lesser talked about subjects,
yet I find many North American pianos with this common problem,
particularlly in the 5 to 25yr old vintage. I know Baldwin has cleaned up
there quality control in this area significantly in the last few years.
 Hope this helps. 

 
Roger Jolly
University of Saskatchewan
Dept. of Music.