Hi Terry, You can use aircraft ply available at the local hobby shop if you want better stability than solid basswood. Renner sells nice sets of premade upright dampers about 2 1/4" or so long. A bit pricey at $50/set. Look inside a European upright and you will likely see a set if it is a Renner action. We just make our own. Make several sets at a time as a time saver. Dale Fox On Thu, 30 Aug 2001 15:21:25 -0400 "Farrell" <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com> writes: > Thanks for the input Ed. Yes, I was planning on getting enough > material for > 3 or 4 sets of dampers. I was also thinking of the mass thing. Bill > indicated he made his little damper 2-1/4" by 3/8" rectagles out of > basswood. I was thinking at least to start with some hard maple or > any other > dense wood that glues well just to put a little mass in the system. > I figure > it is not like the grand damper in that you are lifting it up - you > will > only have a small amount of inertia to overcome because the damper > travel > arc is nearly horizontal. I'll give some thought to the lead thing. > I think > I will avoid the fishing weights :-). The lead I have from the > Stanwood > stuff could simply be glued to the back (pianist side) of the > hardwood > damper rectangle is extra weight is proves beneficial - or maybe > even > wrapped around the dowel damper head and secured with a drop of > thick CA > glue. I'll keep the spring tension in mind also. Thanks. > > Terry Farrell > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Ed Sutton" <ed440@mindspring.com> > To: <pianotech@ptg.org> > Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2001 2:43 PM > Subject: Re: pianotech-digest V2001 #1106 > > > > Terry- > > I have done this. It is worth doing. You may also need to > replace the > > damper wires and bend them to a different shape to get clearance > between > the > > wire and adjacent damper heads. > > > > Also add some small weights to the damper heads. It will improve > damping > > and allow you to soften the springs in the tenor and treble, which > will > make > > the action lighter. One way is to drill the old damper heads to > hold the > > little 1/4 inch leads from Apsco. Another is to wrap lead wire or > clamp > > fishing weights around the damper wire. > > > > When you buy the supplies for the dampers, buy enough for 3 or 4 > more > > pianos. Those trips to the hobby shop waste time. > > Ed Sutton > > > > > > ---------- > > >From: owner-pianotech-digest@ptg.org (pianotech-digest) > > >To: pianotech-digest@ptg.org > > >Subject: pianotech-digest V2001 #1106 > > >Date: Thu, Aug 30, 2001, 10:53 AM > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2001 10:34:50 -0400 > > > From: "Farrell" <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com> > > > Subject: Upright Damper Replacement > > > > > > Hi gang. Bill Spurlock wrote an article in the Journal in '94 > about > upright > > > damper replacement. The bottom line was that he said that he > found that > many > > > or most old uprights had bass dampers that were too short and he > had the > > > best luck with dampers that were from 2 to 2-1/2 inches long, > equipped > with > > > three pieces of 5/8" long wedges. He described how he made his > own > dampers > > > (making the little boards and gluing the dampers onto new dowel > damper > > > heads) and the process he uses to determine what size will work > the best > for > > > any particular piano. > > > > > > Have any of you gone this route? Or know anyone that has? Is > this > generally > > > a good way to go about getting good working new dampers on an > old > upright? I > > > think most of what Bill Spurlock writes is pretty much right on > target, > but > > > just looking for a second opinion. This is my first upright > damper job, > so > > > it's not as if I gonna draw upon my own personal vast resources > of > > > experience. Thanks. > > > > > > Also, he does not mention using the dowel damper heads in the > tenor, but > > > does suggest that some of the first strings in the low tenor > often > benefit > > > from a longer damper. Can I trust that there is nothing wrong > with using > the > > > dowel damper heads in this area? And is there anything wrong > with making > > > your own dampers for all the treble strings (that originally had > dampers) > > > and mounting them on dowel damper heads? Thanks again! > > > > > > Terry Farrell > > > > > > ------------------------------ > ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.
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