Brass Action Rails

[John Ross]

Hi Terry,
I notice that Scaff charges $100 for each section. For repair flanges
#517, it is $97.42 for a set. If #517 were used, it would make it much
easier in the future to repair. (50 years hence) That is if you are
going to use the original butts. The rails would have to come off
anyway, and the "tits" could be used to locate the position to drill
the individual holes for the flanges.
If on the otherhand, you were replacing the butts anyway, then it
might make sense to get away from the brass altogether.
Regards,
John M. Ross
Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca
----- Original Message -----
From: "Farrell" <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2003 12:11 PM
Subject: Re: Brass Action Rails


> That's the way I am leaning for all the reasons you list. But that
was part of my original question: Is there any higher quality brass
rail re-producer than Schaff? They are the only ones I am aware of
that provide this service. Thanks.
>
> Terry Farrell
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ron Nossaman" <RNossaman@cox.net>
> To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2003 10:42 AM
> Subject: Re: Brass Action Rails
>
>
> >
> > >Perhaps the heavy use kept the metal malleable?
> > >
> > >Terry Farrell
> >
> > And what about the next one that was also heavily used and cracked
up
> > badly? No, I don't think so. Also, all of these speculations about
how use
> > affects work hardening and how that causes the cracking don't fit
field
> > observations. We don't know the composition or condition of the
brass when
> > the rail was originally installed. Was it annealed? Was it already
work
> > hardened? Was it already cracked? What was milled and drilled, and
what was
> > stamped? Will annealing a rail that's not yet cracked keep it from
> > cracking? Not knowing what was there originally, it just isn't
possible,
> > much less reasonable, to speculate on whether or not heavy use (or
lack
> > thereof), or whether it was annealed before installation had
anything at
> > all to do with what cracked and what didn't. There's just no
information to
> > work with.
> >
> > Those rails might very well last another 80 years with no problem.
Or they
> > might not. This is no different than deciding whether to replace
that
> > pinblock,or go with oversized pins - or lower the plate to get
string
> > bearing without worrying too much about soundboard crown, or keep
the old
> > wippens because they don't look that bad, or any other of the
hundreds of
> > decisions we make about what is likely to be adequate and what
possibly may
> > not be. Given the option, I'd prefer to replace the rails.
> >
> > Ron N
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> _______________________________________________
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>