<HEAD><TITLE></TITLE> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2912" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV>Tom-</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I have that very same press, bought on the advice of Newton Hunt, and similarly modified.</DIV> <DIV>It's cheap! Cost about $30 when I got it.</DIV> <DIV>It is so much easier not having to chase after a hammer, punch and key lead while holding the key stick.  It sits there and waits while you get things lined up. (Any tool I can pick up and sit down is a tool that I can loose.)</DIV> <DIV>It's also very sensitive.  You can give gentle nudges or hard whacks and all in between as needed.</DIV> <DIV>Highly recommended for anyone who does action balancing.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Ed Sutton<BR><BR><BR></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid">-----Original Message----- <BR>From: Thomas Cole <TCOLE@CRUZIO.COM><BR>Sent: Jul 30, 2006 5:15 PM <BR>To: Pianotech List <PIANOTECH@PTG.ORG><BR>Subject: Re: removing key leads <BR><BR>For keyboard weigh off in the shop, I've recently started using an arbor press (Harbor Freight). I can't find the source for the idea but I'm guessing a Journal article by John Hartman. <BR><BR>The pix below show how a 3/8" bolt with head cut off inserted into a drilled and tapped hole in the arbor can easily press out key leads. Leaving part of the head on would provide a larger surface for pushing on 1/2" and 5/8" leads, to avoid swaging the lead any further. <BR><BR>I use different size bronze bushings to support the reverse side of the key. The nice thing about the press is that arbor and bushing are always in alignment and there's no guessing where to position the key.<BR><BR>The press is also good for putting in new leads. I drop a modified bolt in the bushing hole to back up the lead.<BR><BR>The plier-type DeadLeader is good for working in the field - sometimes it's possible to pop out a lead without removing the stack. If you want to reduce the weight of a lead, you can quickly take it out, shave of a little with a chisel, and reinstall. But for shop work, the press is easier on the anatomy.<BR><BR>Tom Cole<BR></ZZZBODY></ZZZHTML></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY>