Duplex

[Carl Meyer]

Much Grass (mucho gratius)  Thank you so much for the response.  As most
answers do, they generate more questions.  Dr. Laura when asked "Why do Jews
always answer a question by asking another one?  answered  "Who said that?"

So, okay,  I think I can get the front duplex down to 20 mm.  I like your
approach.  Yes, drill presses aren't designed for side pressure.  I long ago
worried about the possibility of the chuck coming off and flying across the
room so I drilled a small hole  and put a screw in to prevent that .  I
don't know if it would help or not.  It hasn't made its maiden flight yet.

What bothered me about the rear duplex is that there is an abrupt change in
tail length that will change the down bearing at that point.  The plate
seems to be about 7/16 thick at all the treble.  I would think that would be
okay.  I assume you mean by vertical hitch pins you mean ala Baldwin.  Since
I will be refinishing the plate I thought I'd plug the holes and drill new
holes for the roll pins.  That allows me to increase the rear tail length.
What size do you use and would you use stainless to prevent rust?  I think
they are available in cad plate as well, but since we slide the wires up and
down that may be scoured off.  This particular piano has one tied wire and
one loop for each note from note 27 to 53.  It appears that the strings
would be aprox as much as 1/4 inch above the plate when the downbearing is
correct.

At present the tail length of note 27 (first above the bass break) is only
about 35 mm.  I can easily increase this to 120mm if I drill new hitch pin
holes.

I've measured the scale but haven't yet entered it into PSCALE so I will
probably be using wound strings on the first few notes of the treble.  Using
new drilled holes will facilitate that.

There has been discussion about hardened capo bars.  I assume there is no
easy way to harden an existing cast iron bar.

Thanks Ron.  Your generosity is exceeded only by your good looks.

Carl Meyer  Assoc. PTG
Santa Clara, California
cmpiano@home.com




----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron Nossaman" <RNossaman@KSCABLE.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2001 10:05 AM
Subject: Re: Duplex


> >Ron,  How short?  I'm resomethingorothering a  5'9" Emerson
> >and the front bearing angle  varies from about 17 degrees at note 55 to
> >about 12 degrees at note 87.  The length is about 1.1 inches at note 55
and
> >varies to 1.3 inches at note 87.  It wouldn't be too hard to shorten it a
> >little.
> >
> >Thanks,  I'll have more questions about the rear duplex shortly.
> >
> >Carl Meyer  Assoc. PTG
>
> Carl,
> Short as you can reasonably get them. If you can get them down in the 20mm
> range, you should be in good shape. Watch your bearing angles. You'll need
> a shorter counter bearing bar closer to the capo than you did farther
away.
>
> Which reminds me. Making counter bearing bars, I buy 10' sticks of brass
> rod in assorted diameters from my local surplus yard. A rotary file
chucked
> in my drill press, feeding a length of brass between the file and a fence
> clamped to the table lets me quickly make whatever height bar I think I
> want with minimum fuss and pain. Then I cut to length and bend to suit.
> there's some waste, but the stuff is cheap, and I like the flexibility of
> infinite thickness choices. Down side - I don't think my drill press likes
> it much.
>
> You probably already know what I like in back scales. Long, no attempt at
> tuning or detuning, with vertical hitches if the plate is adequate to it.
>
> Ron N