Important info about ancient Chickering "Brown" actions.

[gordon stelter]

Dear Everyone,
     I just finished 400 hours "figgerin'", restoring
and regulating an 1880 Chickering action, and don't
want anyone else to suffer.  It works very well, and
the owners are delighted. But I went $8,000 in hock 
while doing it. So, from compassion, I offer this:

1) Run away.
2) Convince the customer to replace it with a modern
action. It will be easier, work better, and be VASTLY
easier to regulate/repair.
3) Charge at least $7,000 for a  thorough overhaul.
    If you must rebuild what's there, and have an
early version, replace the hammers and shanks with the
later version, with the threaded "upside down thumb
tack ". ( I found some "cap screws" at Lowe's: tiny
mmachine screws with hex indentions in the top, that'
I'd modify by drilling tiny holes in the hex
indentation, and gluing in thumbtacks, and sawing a 
slot in the other end, were I to do this. )
  There may be other fasteners available through the
ThomCat., but that's what I found, locally. 
     Some comments: I would call this a
"semi-repitition" action. The springs on the "wypyns" 
( those gizmos with the forks and cords ) help get it
out of the way for the jack to slide back under, but
not quite as quickly as with conventional systems. The
V-shaped springs also, though, help hold the backs of
the keys down, while reducing touchweight,
significantly. I believe that Chickering was aiming
for a  very light touch, with good repetition. I can
only get it to flub on rapid-fire-two-finger jabbing,
so that's pretty good.
      Regulating note: The "threaded thumbtacks"
through the hamershanks are NOT, in my opinion, to
"level the hammers".  Nope.  They are to take up lost
motion. Adjust the springs so the "wypyns" have
just-not-quite-enough force to lift the hammers off
the rest rail. The springs should lift the "wypyns"
away from the jack tips, while the hammers are swung
away.  But when the hammers are sitting on the
"wypyns", turning the screw in should push the "wypyn"
down, NOT the hammer up. That way, lost-motion can be
eliminated between the jack-tip and the buckskin on
the "wypyn" underside. Mine, an early model, did not
have these screws, so lost motion was inevitable.
Apparently, Chickering figured this out about 1882,
and added the improvement.
     I could spend a  week writing a  manual about
what I learened of this system, and how to restore and
regulate it. But working on this thing has wrecked my
business, and put me months behind on other customers'
projects, so if you want more info, I'm afraid I'll
have to charge. Toss me $200 and I'll spend however
long it takes to record everything that I learned,
including gluing, jig designs, etc.. If you're up
against one of these, it'll be the best $200 you ever
spent. Believe me.
     Back to work,
     Thump




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