<!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 6.00.2800.1498" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Barbara asked: "<FONT face="Times New = Roman" size=3>I was wondering what your favorite methods were of dealing with = grand =<BR>damper stop rails that have been tightened so much that the wood = has =<BR>been crushed by the screws, making any fine adjustment, =<BR>well.....impossible.   What have you done?  Just = replace them (sigh) or =<BR>would gluing in some sort of shim or filler do the = job?<FONT face=Arial size=2>"</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Barbara,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Go to your local hardware store and get = some "Fender Washers" with the appropriate sized hole. These spread the = pressure out farther than regular washers. I'm going to do exactly that on the 1867 Chickering Grand that is in the final stages of refinement. I made the = Damper Upstop Rail and used the washers supplied with the back action, = (Pratt-Read). After several in/out procedures, of the dampers, the new rail is = exhibiting this problem, already! Yikes! :-( Even tho, the rail is made out of good = quality Rock Maple, the problem exists, here as in most damper systems of the same = type. The answer is Fender Washers.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Regards,</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV></FONT> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Joe Garrett, R.P.T.<BR>Captain, Tool Police<BR>Squares R I</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>