Well, some of you might remember that when the new clear elbows came out, they were guaranteed for 1,000 years. There was a little slip of paper in every bag explaining the difference in plastics. Denise On Dec 8, 2009, at 9:01 AM, Porritt, David wrote: > I’ve never run into a broken new plastic elbow but maybe I’ve just > lived a charmed live. Investing the time and parts money on 100 > year parts for a piano that has 5 more years (if that) of life left > in it, seems extreme to me. > > dp > > David M. Porritt, RPT > dporritt at smu.edu > > From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] > On Behalf Of Gerald Groot > Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2009 6:58 AM > To: pianotech at ptg.org > Subject: Re: [pianotech] Replacing plastic elbows > > I agree with Wim. Trying to find a replacement piano for $500 that > was well taken care of and needs very little to no work is very > difficult if not impossible. Many years ago, I used to replace them > with the snap on ones too finding that years later if not sooner, > the new ones also broke. Replacing with wooden is the best way. No > more broken parts 15 or 30 years later. Just make sure the dampers > and hammer flanges and other parts are not also plastic as well. > > From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] > On Behalf Of wimblees at aol.com > Sent: Tuesday, December 08, 2009 4:22 AM > To: pianotech at ptg.org > Subject: Re: [pianotech] Replacing plastic elbows > > Greg > > You're probably not going to like what I'm about to suggest, because > it's a little more work, and goes everything else you've read. > Vagias snap on elbows are good for replacing a couple of elbows in > the piano. But if you're going to do a whole set, and you've got the > action out of the piano anyway, why not replace them with wood > elbows. My arguments is, plastic was used once, so why replace it > with plastic. (I know, the new plastic won't disintegrate like the > new Vagias ones. But that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.) > Lay the action on the bench, dampers down, and remove the center > pins from the wippens. It's not that difficult to do, once you get > the hang of it. The old elbows, or what's left of them, will fall > right off. Before putting on the new elbows, tighten all the screws, > shape the hammers and blow out the dust and dirt. > An easy way to put the new elbows on the sticker is to chuck the > sticker into a variable speed drill at the regulating button end. > (Sometimes you've got to screw down the regulating button a little > to get enough into the chuck). Put the elbow in a vice, and drill > the sticker onto the new elbow. Try to get the sticker about the > same distance into each sticker, but don't try to figure out which > sticker goes to which wippen, because you're going to have to > regulate all of them anyway. Putting the stickers and new elbows on > the wippens is also a little tricky, but again, once you've done a > couple and get the hang of it, it's actually very easy. If you're > careful, and don't break any wippens, it only takes about 2 hours to > do the whole job. > > Before replacing the action, you probably had to take the keys out. > So vacuum under the keys, and down in the bottom of the piano, to > get rid of all the plastic remnants of the elbows > > I haven't done a set for at least 10 years, but over the years, I've > made a lot of money from Betsy and her cousins. The total job, > including replacing the elbow, vacuuming, regulating, tightening the > screws, etc. is worth at least $500, plus tuning. As much as some > people seem to belittle Betsy and her cousins, some of those pianos > weren't all that bad. If the case is still in good shape, it would > be well worth the money to spend on replacing the elbows, as opposed > to buying a new piano, or a decent used one. > > Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT > Piano Tuner/Technician > 94-505 Kealakaa Str. > Mililani, Oahu, HI 96789 > 808-349-2943 > www.Bleespiano.com > Author of: > The Business of Piano Tuning > available from Potter Press > www.pianotuning.com > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Greg Livingston <pianotuner440 at hotmail.com> > To: Pianotech list <pianotech at ptg.org> > Sent: Mon, Dec 7, 2009 4:53 pm > Subject: [pianotech] Replacing plastic elbows > > Dear Friends, > > I have a Lester spinet action belonging to a long-time customer on > my bench (that is, my dining room table) that needs new elbows. I > thought replacing the original plastic elbows would be easy, but > only the broken ones are brittle; the unbroken ones are hard as > concrete. How do you replace these? Unpin them to put the new ones > on? I don't want to risk breaking the wippen by trying to bend the > old plastic ones. I'd be grateful for your advice, and my wife will > be thrilled to get the dining room table back. > Thanks, > Greg Livingston > PS- I have not figured out how to search the archives, though I've > tried; I need help in that area, too. > > ___________________________________________________ > Gregory P. Livingston, Piano Tuning and Service 781-237-9178 > Piano Technicians Guild, associate member (Boston chapter) > > * * * Always remember September 11, 2001 * * * > > > Chat with Messenger straight from your Hotmail inbox. Check it out = > > > avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean. > > Virus Database (VPS): 091208-0, 12/08/2009 > Tested on: 12/8/2009 7:57:53 AM > avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2009 ALWIL Software. > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20091208/97696f2b/attachment-0001.htm>
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