<!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 6.00.2900.2802" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>When I visualized this repair, as originally discussed, I always assumed, an Asian type flange would be used.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>That way the rod better places the flange.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>In this picture rod seems to leave a little bit of wiggle room.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>Or am I missing something?</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV>John M. Ross<BR>Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada<BR><A href="mailto:jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca">jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca</A></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com href="mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com">Farrell</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, January 30, 2006 4:01 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Brass Rail to Wood Flange Conversion</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This was a topic a little while back that seemed to spur some interest, so I thought I would follow up the latest. I converted the brass hammer butt rail on an old M&H upright to wooden flanges via the Bill Spurlock method. Worked very well, except for one thing on this piano - I don't know how many others might be similarly affected. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Look at the two pictures below. I think it is fairly easy to identify the nice new white hard maple wood that I added to the original rail - right on top and flush with the back side of the hammer butt flange.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Before I added the maple piece, everything went together well, except that I noticed a few flanges/action-centers a little out of line with the others. The top edge of the rail was a tiny bit chewed up in those locations and the upper flat part of the flange that mates with the rail wasn't even touching the rail - all of it was above the rail. So the only thing that was helping to kinda keep the flange in place was the brass wire - but that was quickly indenting into the wood flange and the flange was moving inward. I pondered a solution for.... well, longer than I care to admit. Then after putting two brains together (Phil Bondi and I - alright, maybe 1-1/2 brains - and Phil ain't the one a half-sandwich short of a picnic) - we also theorized that without some kind of good support on the upper part of that flange, not only can the flange migrate inward over time a bit becuase of a lack of support for the flange surface, but when that hammer strikes the string - we wondered how the lack of a stable/secure base to the flange might cause a loss of tone - kinda like having a hammer rail made of Styrofoam or at least flange screws being loose or an action center that is too loose - I know those factors can cause a lack of power/tone.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>So, we thought that beefing up the rail with as wide a piece of maple as we could fit between the front edge of the damper flanges and the back side of the butt flanges would help to stabilize/strengthen the butt flanges and hence the whole hammer assembly.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm far from putting it in the piano, but I think this modification will be of benefit. Time will tell.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The photo below is down at the bass end of the rail. Just one butt flange is in place so that the added maple piece can be seen. The maple plug is an artifact of plugging the holes in the rail where the original brass butt rail was screwed to the rail.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><IMG alt="" hspace=0 src="cid:002601c625dd$f48a43e0$6400a8c0@Ross" align=baseline border=0></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The photo below is looking down the long axis of the rail at the bass end.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><IMG alt="" hspace=0 src="cid:002701c625dd$f48cb4e0$6400a8c0@Ross" align=baseline border=0></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>