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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hello Don P and List</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I have a few squares on my regular =
rounds - in
museums and country houses. I had to make my own tuning "T" hammer to =
tune them
with. I only use a "T" hammer on these as a lever takes too much room =
and cannot
get the handle in the right position because of the high sides around =
the wrest
plank. Two of my squares are built around 1780 or so. One =
uses
whale-bone for its damper springs. Most use vellum hinges for the =
hammers
and dampers. Go armed with a vellum saw and some vellum - which you can =
get from
any early music timpanist as off-cuts from replacing skins. The action =
will
probably be in two sections The treble section will only be about one =
8ve. You
may be lucky and find the tops of the keys have been marked with an "O" =
with a
line through it to indicate under which keys the screws holding the =
action in
place are situated. You may have difficulty in pulling up the name-board =
and the
key slip-rail to remove them - but that's what you'll have to do to get =
the
action out. BEWARE! The damper wires may be attached directly to the =
tails of
the keys. If this is so you'll have to unscrew them on-by-one - a very =
dicey
task if they've been in situ for a few hundred years - before you can =
extract
the action. The tuning pins may go along the spine or along the treble =
end of
the instrument. Before you start tuning use coloured centre-rail washers =
to
indicate the A's and different colours for the F's and the C's - you =
will find
this incredibly useful in finding your way around the tuning. For =
Squares I
always use an ETD with many pitches to set the bearings. I =
have a KORG
Chromatic Tuner CA-30 which does quite nicely as it is impossible to be =
wholly
accurate on these old beasts. For a wedge I use a very small rubber =
wedge
otherwise the flexibility of those strings will not allow the wedge to =
stay
upright. I dare say you could use a bit of hard check felt suitably cut. =
Finally.... discover and keep to the ruling pitch of the instrument. =
Altering
pitch on them is courting possible disaster.... AND..... have =
fun!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Regards from a Sunny Village in the =
Sussex
Downs</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Michael =
G.(UK)</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>