<!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 6.00.2900.2668" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>If you don't have the Hartt tool, you could make do with a pair of haemostats.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>I usually, just use my fingers, and do by feel, in a pinch.</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=rfinley@rcn.com href="mailto:rfinley@rcn.com">Robert Finley</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> Saturday, June 18, 2005 10:19 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Need Advice on Baldwin Hamilton Studio Upright</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I have to tune some pianos in the practice studios of a college for a piano competition next week, and I encountered a problem with a Baldwin Hamilton studio console upright today. During the tuning I accidentally dropped a wedge mute into the action, and it rested on the hammer butts. When I tried to retrieve it I accidentally dislodged the hammer but spring which is a straight whisker-like spring that comes down vertically from a rail and presses on a felt pad on the hammer butt. It ended up sticking out at an angle. I tried to put it back on the felt pad of the hammer butt with my fingers, and then displaced an adjacent spring. There was no room to maneuver.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Please could someone advise me what the best and easiest way would be to put the hammer butt springs back in place? I assume there is no tool I could use to grasp the springs and put them back in place? Will I have to take the action out of the piano to gain access to the springs?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I am a learning about piano tuning and repair. This is the first problem I have encountered, so it should be good practice and experience for me.  I am concerned though that this is unfamiliar territory. I have to fix the piano and complete the tuning tomorrow so that it will be ready for the contestants. I have taken a grand piano action out before without any problems, but not a vertical one, so I am concerned whether something else more serious might become dislodged. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I found this Baldwion Hamilton piano difficult to work with because there was very little space to put a rubber wedge mute or felt temperament strip mute. That is why the rubber mute dropped into the action. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Any advice anyone can give me will be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Robert Finley</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>