[pianotech] but will it split

[David Love]

This certainly will work but you want to be cautious on certain pianos
(Steinway included) as lowering the effective bottom of the tray can cause
contact between the dags and the new tray bottom.  I have used square
shoulder capstans that are 11/16" and are pictured on the post I sent
previously.  These have a small enough area below the head to allow you to
snug it down without taking excess material off the tray itself and the make
for easy adjusting with a capstan wrench.  Because of the short length you
don't have to worry about the capstan extending through the modified tray
or extending the tray bottom downward.  As I mentioned earlier, a small hand
held router (I have a Porter Cable) with a 3091 laminate trimmer base allows
you to remove the material from the front of the tray to your desired depth
and the base happens to index off the back of the Renner tray just about
perfectly so you don't need to set up a jig or run it through a table saw
(which also works).  

 

David Love

www.davidlovepianos.com

 

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of John Delacour
Sent: Friday, December 26, 2008 8:47 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] but will it split

 

At 17:05 -0800 25/12/08, Gene Nelson wrote:

 

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Dale, I purchased the capstans from Jurgen at Piano Frote Supply several
months ago. I thought that the conversion would be simple - locate and drill
holes and start adjusting - wrong.

Capstans are one inch long and require some sort of relief cut on the tray
or counter sink for the upper shoulder of the capstan or trimming the bottom
threads off or similar.

I say this only because of the way it appears to fit based on the hight of
the underlever felt on the tray - thought that getting the top of the
capstan at the same hight as the felt would be a good place to start.

As with any conversion/modification, it will take a bit more thought than I
thought.

 

Here's what I'd do, here's what I _have_ done indeed very roughly,
illustrated below, and you can use either the capstans you've got from
Jurgen, as illustrated here, or plain grand key capstans.  The advantage of
the ones you have is that you can use a softer wood for the L-rail.  The
hexagon heads are useful only for turning in the screws, since there's no
room for spanners, no matter how thin-walled,given the spacing of the
dampers.  There is a better screw without the hex head still illustrated in
many catalogues, but last time I ordered them, these are what I got.  Here
I've used a bit of tulipwood.

 

Saw or plane off 3/4" or so from the lift rail and make up the L-rail to
glue or screw at the front. This can be made up in two pieces if you like.

 

The damper bodies here are full width, so there is no question of the glue
sticking.  With thin bodies like the Steinway I'd make the cloth pieces
slightly wider than the wood so as to give a fillet of glue on each side for
greater security.  Good hot thickish animal glue, of course.

 

All the European versions of this addition I've seen have the adjusting
screw turned into the body, but that's not possible with the half-width
bodies as on Steinways -- anyway the rail is better, since you're putting no
strain on the centres.

 

JD

 

 



 



 

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