Knight jack stop rail

[Michael Gamble]

Hello Terry P and Listers
The Knight "jack stop rail" actually called the "jack slap rail"  (second 
cousin to the "damper slap rail" - and how many pianos do I find with this 
vital rail missing?) is kept in position with some long screws having two 
diameters and with threads which, like boat afficianados "bottle screws", 
are counter-threaded - i.e. one is R handed the other is L handed. The 
business end is adjusted with a jack (as in grand piano jack) adjusting 
tool - a couple of turns on each until it comes away from the action rail. 
In the event it is seized solid with rust use a low powered soldering iron 
to heat these screws until they turn. The slap rail should be covered with 
cushion felt - I have never ever come across one using foam! I doubt that 
Knights would use foam - they were a most respected manufacturer. Is this 
one of their K-10 models? The model number is in relief on the bottom end of 
the frame (plate). Good piano with good round tone - quite sonorous, but 
tends to be quite "rubbery" to tune when pitch raising.
Regards
Michael G.(UK)
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "pianolover 88" <pianolover88@hotmail.com>
To: <PIANOTECH@PTG.ORG>
Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2005 5:58 PM
Subject: Knight jack stop rail


> Customer has a 1963ish Knight console. The jacks have its own stop rail, 
> whereas on most pianos the letoff rail also has a felt strip on the back 
> to dampen the impact of the jacks so as not to "click". The knight has 
> BOTH a letoff rail AND a separate jack stop rail, but for some strange 
> unknown reason, the latter was originally backed with FOAM instead of 
> felt! Of course after 40 odd years that foam has literally turned to 
> powder and the residue was everywhere! So after cleaning the action and 
> doing some other repairs, I tried to remove the rail so I could back it 
> with a fresh strip of felt....But I cannot figure out how to get it out! 
> It has four adjusting screws like those used for the letoff buttons, only 
> these are longer and go through the rail and continue a couple more inches 
> into the action frame. Turning each screw only results in moving the rail 
> closer or further from the jacks,but does not appear to allow for the 
> removal of the rail. So, I'm hoping someone here has experience with this 
> configuration and can advise me on the correct removal of this rail. Since 
> the rail  is without backing at this point, the jacks do make audible 
> clicks when playing, so maybe by regulating the rail so it's farther away 
> from the jacks would lessen or stop the clicks? Thanks in advance for any 
> help in this matter.
>
> Terry Peterson
>
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