<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3020" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV><SPAN class=080141522-15122007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Thanks Mike and all the others for the advice and info.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=080141522-15122007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=080141522-15122007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>John Voigt</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=080141522-15122007></SPAN> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Michael Magness [mailto:IFixPianos@yahoo.com]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Friday, December 14, 2007 7:09 PM<BR><B>To:</B> Pianotech List<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: casters<BR><BR></FONT></DIV><BR><BR> <DIV class=gmail_quote>On Dec 14, 2007 6:21 PM, John Voigt <<A href="mailto:jvoigt@gwtc.net">jvoigt@gwtc.net</A>> wrote:<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE class=gmail_quote style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">When I tuned a Yamaha P22 at a school today I was asked if I could fix the<BR>two front casters as they would fall out when the piano had to be lifted, <BR>such as when going over thresh-holds and such.  I didn't have my tilter with<BR>me nor did I have the time to deal with it today.  That being said, even<BR>though I have seen the problem before, I have not tried to repair it.  I <BR>thought they are held in by a type of spring collar or something.  When the<BR>stem drops out, is there a way (easy or otherwise) to repair it or is<BR>replacement the option?<BR><FONT color=#888888><BR>John Voigt<BR><BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV><BR>Hi John,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Yamaha in their wisdom(read with sarcasm) made the front socket collars much smaller than the back ones however the socket itself is the same size. They don't use a spring collar but rather a machined groove in the stem of the caster that "clicks" past an indent in the socket. After the piano has run into enough thresholds and other objects at breakneck speeds that indent gets straightend out. If you have a friendly janitor(I usually make a point of making friends with them, they have all of the keys!)who has a workroom with a vice ask if you can use it for a few minutes. Place the socket in the vice and using your largest screwdriver or a cold chisel of you have one and a hammer, re-dent the sockets being careful not to smash them. I have placed the caster in the socket and then re-dented to prevent smashing. I then pry the caster out with the large screwdriver and re-install the socket usually with better, longer screws than the original 1" ones. <BR clear=all>Hope that helps,</DIV> <DIV>Mike<BR>-- <BR>People who say it can't be done, should not interrupt those of us who are doing it.<BR>Michael Magness<BR>Magness Piano Service<BR>608-786-4404<BR><A href="http://www.IFixPianos.com">www.IFixPianos.com </A><BR>email <A href="mailto:mike@ifixpianos.com">mike@ifixpianos.com</A> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>