Stieff upright piano question

[Ron Nossaman]

-----------------------------
>Building your own stack, with your own design for the pneumatics!! Isn't
>that about the equivalent of a doctoral thesis for player technicians? Good
>luck with your project!
>
>Susan
>

I designed one of these things in the early '80s. Based loosly on the
Amphion design, similar valve footprint, but with the valve blocks mounted
right side up and screw and coil spring mounted like the old Wurlitzer
blocks. Interestingly enough, it's easier to build your own from scratch
than it is to try to figure out how some of the manufacturers got their
"designs" to work in the first place. The secret is that you get to steal
all the good features from all of the good designs through the prime years
of player developement without having to tiptoe through anyone elses patent
minefield. My valve block worked better than the vast majority, and as well
as the best, in a 1.5 X 1.5 X 1" package. I used jacks and flanges with
capstans for ?? whatever the glyphies are that engage the wippens, and
leather hinges on the stickers between pneumatic and ... gliphies. I
installed maybe five of them, one in an orchestrian of my own authorship,
and they all worked very well. I still service one of them every couple of
years, and it still chugs along quite nicely. I decided there wasn't enough
of a market at the time, and cut rate/quality/throat hobbiests were too
numerous to get around, so I let it pass. 

I made 5 point motors and governers too, but I bought the transmissions (I'm
ugly, but I ain't stupid (well, maybe (Ok, you got me))).

Go for it Andy! 

 Ron