My legs are giving me a headache.

[David M. Porritt]

Robert:

Years ago I had a situation where some "amateurs" moved a Steinway "D" at a church.  They broke one of the legs right at the place where the top (wide) part connects to the rest of the leg.  There is a 2" dowel rod running through the top part down into the leg.  

I got a 2-inch dowel rod (not easy to find, by the way) and a 2" forstner bit, and repaired the leg.  It's still functioning today.  It's not that hard, unless the parts that are left are splintered or irreparable.  

dave

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 11/30/99 at 4:46 PM Robert Goodale wrote:

>Howdy,
>
>I have had a not so fun afternoon.  When I reported to the
>performing arts center this morning I was told that the tail leg
>on the Steinway had busted off.  I quickly ran down to check.
>Sure enough there it was, sadly slumped over like a drunk piano
>player.  The remains was laying on the floor, broken clean
>through the dowel at the base.  Of course the bad news couldn't
>end there.  That piano is needed for a concerto competition on
>Thursday.
>
>Perhaps it could be fixed if enough shop effort was put into it
>but at his particular moment I don't have that kind of time.  I
>got on the phone today to see if I could get Steinway to send a
>new leg via Fed-Ex.  No dice, it would take weeks.  Under the
>circumstances for now it looks like we are going to temporarily
>move a piano in from another location.
>
>These legs have extra large wheels somewhat like a Hamburg.
>Never previously needing to know or care I was under the
>impression that someone simply put the larger wheels on the
>original legs.  Upon closer inspection, however, I see now that
>these legs are in fact different then a normal Steinway leg.
>This would of course make sense because the larger diameter wheel
>would otherwise raise the piano too high.  Cutting down a normal
>Steinway leg would look strange to say the least.  Although the
>face plate portion seems normal the actual legs are shorter.
>Clearly these legs are specifically designed for large wheels.
>Thus now I'm attempting to determine the origin of these legs.
>Does Steinway sell Hamburg legs in lacquer finish for New York
>pianos?
>
>Rob Goodale, RPT




David M. Porritt
dporritt@swbell.net
Meadows School of the Arts
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, TX 75275