Music Trade Review
Issue: 1926 Vol. 83 N. 7 - Page 32
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
32
The Music Trade Review
AUGUST 14, 1926
The Technical and Supply Department—(Continued from page 31)
need is not so much a perfect order of steps
(this being mainly a matter of individual tem-
perament) as it is skill in the execution of
each separate step. There is no single item in
the professional outfit of the tuner which to-
day so much needs general overhauling and
bringing up to date as this of his adroitness in
grand action regulating. I have been trying to
explain, quite as much as merely to give direc-
tions, in the hope that every reader who has
been uncertain about the meaning of any of the
parts or functions of the grand action mav
now find himself on sure ground. Once the
meaning of each part is understood and its func-
tions grasped there should (and will) be no
trouble to any man of ordinary intelligence in
seeing what to do and how to do it.
A good many of the grand pianos which the
outside man works on have been much used.
Some of them are quite old. Minor differences
in action construction will be found in some of
the older actions, but the current construction
in all essentials has remained unaltered for fifty
years and more. The main points to be con-
sidered in dealing with an old instrument are
likely to be (a) broken parts; (b) warping or
twisting of key frames; (c) re-pinning. In re-
gard to the second of these, sometimes a key-
bed can be built up to overcome a change in
level of the key frame by putting cardboard
under the latter. Sometimes the whole frame
is best taken out, heated and then pressed back
to level. With regard to the third, when pins
are very loose in the centers it is always a ques-
tion whether one should not send the action to
the factory to be sure of getting a good job
done. Re-pinning is all very well when done
well, but it takes a fearful lot of time and can
much better be done in an action shop.
Finally
I have not said anything so far about tools.
There are some special instruments needed for
grand action work, without which one cannot
manage some of the finer operations. A very
small screw driver for handling the drop screw
is a necessity. Another is a small regulating
screw driver for repetition lever regulating but-
tons. Sometimes the jack regulating buttons
are hard to get at and demand a specially curved
turning iron of some kind. Steinway pianos un-
til recently called for a special wrench for turn-
ing the capstans on the keys. In fact, Stein-
way capstans were, until recently, not strictly
capstans at all, for they were not pierced with
holes.
Again, in needling and filing hammers, it is
highly advisable in most cases to be provided
with some means of holding the hammers
solidly while they are being sandpapered o r
stabbed. A block fitting over the ends of the
repetition levers and a clamp to hold five or
six hammers together may be useful in this
EASY TO REPAIR
DAMAGED FINISHES
OU can easily repair the damage
Y
to varnished surfaces through fol-
lowing the instructions given in our
book "How to Repair Damage to Var-
nished Surfaces." Dealers everywhere
are enthusiastic over the ease with
which this is done—and the losses
which have been eliminated. A copy
will be sent to you free upon request.
The M. L. Campbell Co.
1OO1 W. 8th St.
case. Needle holders, as sold by the makers
of tuners' tools, are usually not, in my opinion,
very practical. I find the handles too thin, giv-
ing no proper support to the hand, which soon
becomes cramped. The handles should, in my
opinion, be thick enough to be grasped easily
by the hand. Three needles are enough to use
at one time, and these should project not more
than Yi inch above the handle. A single needle,
longer and finer, is also sometimes required.
One can usually make the narrow handle of the
stock needle-holder thick enough by winding
it with tape.
I should appreciate hearing from readers who
may have failed to find in this series of articles
some or anything which they may have been
seeking. Criticism, of course, is wanted. And
will some one please tell me what next is in
demand?
Meanwhile, the scale drawing articles con-
tinue and I shall be thinking up another prac-
tical topic for the week after next.
Correspondence
is solicited and should be addressed to William
Braid White, 5149 Agatite avenue, Chicago.
Fall Courses Announced
at Forest Laboratory
Instruction in Gluing, Boxing and Crating and
Kiln Drying to Be Given From September 13
to September 20
MADISON, WIS., August 7.—Three Fall courses in
the gluing of wood, boxing and crating and kiln
drying will be held by the Forest Products Lab-
oratory here from September 13 to 20. The
one-week course in boxing and crating and the
two-weeks' course in kiln drying will begin on
the latter date. A new ventilated kiln has been
added to the Laboratory's demonstration drying
apparatus and will be used in the next kiln dry-
ing course.
The Fall classes will be limited as usual to
fifteen in the glue course, eighteen in the kiln
drying course and twenty in the course in box-
ing and crating. Enrollments are being received
for all three courses.
The Summer courses in these subjects held
recently by the Laboratory had an enrollment of
forty-two men, bringing the grand total of
woodworking representatives taking the courses
to over 1,000 since the practice of trade instruc-
tion was instituted.
Mexican Cabinet Woods
WASHINGTON, D. C, August 7.—Exports of Mex-
ican hardwoods, chiefly cabinet woods, to the
United States, amounted to a value of $893,000
during 1925, according to the Yearly Statistics
of Foreign Trade of Mexico just made public.
This figure shows a favorable comparison with
a total value of $692,000 for 1924. The statis-
tics show no classification of lumber except in
distinction of cabinet woods and woods for
common uses. Exports of cabinet woods in the
log during 1925 were 2,500,000 cubic feet—
1,900,000 cubic feet to the United States, and
560,000 cubic feet to British Honduras, the latter
for re-export. Exports of sawn cabinet woods
in total were 1,800,000 board feet, of which
1,200,000 feet went to the United States. Ex-
ports of common woods in the log were 12,500
cubic feet, and in sawn products 7,400,000 board
feet—all to the United States.
Fire at Beckwith Bros.
The plant of Beckwith Bros., local manufac-
turers of piano legs and trusses, Westfield,
Mass., was seriously damaged by fire recently,
the origin of which has not been determined,
according to the company.
TUNERS
AND
REPAIRERS
Our new catalogue of piano and
Player Hardware, Felts and
Tools is now ready. If you
haven't received your copy
please let us know.
Kansas City, Mo.
FAUST SCHOOL
OF TUNING
Standard of America
Alumni of 2000
Piano Toning, Pipe and Reed Orgao
and Player Piano. Tear Book Free.
27-29 Gainsboro Street
BOSTON, MASS.
Hammacher, Schlemmer & Co.
New York, Since 1848
4th Ave. and 13th St.
32
The Music Trade Review
AUGUST 14, 1926
The Technical and Supply Department—(Continued from page 31)
need is not so much a perfect order of steps
(this being mainly a matter of individual tem-
perament) as it is skill in the execution of
each separate step. There is no single item in
the professional outfit of the tuner which to-
day so much needs general overhauling and
bringing up to date as this of his adroitness in
grand action regulating. I have been trying to
explain, quite as much as merely to give direc-
tions, in the hope that every reader who has
been uncertain about the meaning of any of the
parts or functions of the grand action mav
now find himself on sure ground. Once the
meaning of each part is understood and its func-
tions grasped there should (and will) be no
trouble to any man of ordinary intelligence in
seeing what to do and how to do it.
A good many of the grand pianos which the
outside man works on have been much used.
Some of them are quite old. Minor differences
in action construction will be found in some of
the older actions, but the current construction
in all essentials has remained unaltered for fifty
years and more. The main points to be con-
sidered in dealing with an old instrument are
likely to be (a) broken parts; (b) warping or
twisting of key frames; (c) re-pinning. In re-
gard to the second of these, sometimes a key-
bed can be built up to overcome a change in
level of the key frame by putting cardboard
under the latter. Sometimes the whole frame
is best taken out, heated and then pressed back
to level. With regard to the third, when pins
are very loose in the centers it is always a ques-
tion whether one should not send the action to
the factory to be sure of getting a good job
done. Re-pinning is all very well when done
well, but it takes a fearful lot of time and can
much better be done in an action shop.
Finally
I have not said anything so far about tools.
There are some special instruments needed for
grand action work, without which one cannot
manage some of the finer operations. A very
small screw driver for handling the drop screw
is a necessity. Another is a small regulating
screw driver for repetition lever regulating but-
tons. Sometimes the jack regulating buttons
are hard to get at and demand a specially curved
turning iron of some kind. Steinway pianos un-
til recently called for a special wrench for turn-
ing the capstans on the keys. In fact, Stein-
way capstans were, until recently, not strictly
capstans at all, for they were not pierced with
holes.
Again, in needling and filing hammers, it is
highly advisable in most cases to be provided
with some means of holding the hammers
solidly while they are being sandpapered o r
stabbed. A block fitting over the ends of the
repetition levers and a clamp to hold five or
six hammers together may be useful in this
EASY TO REPAIR
DAMAGED FINISHES
OU can easily repair the damage
Y
to varnished surfaces through fol-
lowing the instructions given in our
book "How to Repair Damage to Var-
nished Surfaces." Dealers everywhere
are enthusiastic over the ease with
which this is done—and the losses
which have been eliminated. A copy
will be sent to you free upon request.
The M. L. Campbell Co.
1OO1 W. 8th St.
case. Needle holders, as sold by the makers
of tuners' tools, are usually not, in my opinion,
very practical. I find the handles too thin, giv-
ing no proper support to the hand, which soon
becomes cramped. The handles should, in my
opinion, be thick enough to be grasped easily
by the hand. Three needles are enough to use
at one time, and these should project not more
than Yi inch above the handle. A single needle,
longer and finer, is also sometimes required.
One can usually make the narrow handle of the
stock needle-holder thick enough by winding
it with tape.
I should appreciate hearing from readers who
may have failed to find in this series of articles
some or anything which they may have been
seeking. Criticism, of course, is wanted. And
will some one please tell me what next is in
demand?
Meanwhile, the scale drawing articles con-
tinue and I shall be thinking up another prac-
tical topic for the week after next.
Correspondence
is solicited and should be addressed to William
Braid White, 5149 Agatite avenue, Chicago.
Fall Courses Announced
at Forest Laboratory
Instruction in Gluing, Boxing and Crating and
Kiln Drying to Be Given From September 13
to September 20
MADISON, WIS., August 7.—Three Fall courses in
the gluing of wood, boxing and crating and kiln
drying will be held by the Forest Products Lab-
oratory here from September 13 to 20. The
one-week course in boxing and crating and the
two-weeks' course in kiln drying will begin on
the latter date. A new ventilated kiln has been
added to the Laboratory's demonstration drying
apparatus and will be used in the next kiln dry-
ing course.
The Fall classes will be limited as usual to
fifteen in the glue course, eighteen in the kiln
drying course and twenty in the course in box-
ing and crating. Enrollments are being received
for all three courses.
The Summer courses in these subjects held
recently by the Laboratory had an enrollment of
forty-two men, bringing the grand total of
woodworking representatives taking the courses
to over 1,000 since the practice of trade instruc-
tion was instituted.
Mexican Cabinet Woods
WASHINGTON, D. C, August 7.—Exports of Mex-
ican hardwoods, chiefly cabinet woods, to the
United States, amounted to a value of $893,000
during 1925, according to the Yearly Statistics
of Foreign Trade of Mexico just made public.
This figure shows a favorable comparison with
a total value of $692,000 for 1924. The statis-
tics show no classification of lumber except in
distinction of cabinet woods and woods for
common uses. Exports of cabinet woods in the
log during 1925 were 2,500,000 cubic feet—
1,900,000 cubic feet to the United States, and
560,000 cubic feet to British Honduras, the latter
for re-export. Exports of sawn cabinet woods
in total were 1,800,000 board feet, of which
1,200,000 feet went to the United States. Ex-
ports of common woods in the log were 12,500
cubic feet, and in sawn products 7,400,000 board
feet—all to the United States.
Fire at Beckwith Bros.
The plant of Beckwith Bros., local manufac-
turers of piano legs and trusses, Westfield,
Mass., was seriously damaged by fire recently,
the origin of which has not been determined,
according to the company.
TUNERS
AND
REPAIRERS
Our new catalogue of piano and
Player Hardware, Felts and
Tools is now ready. If you
haven't received your copy
please let us know.
Kansas City, Mo.
FAUST SCHOOL
OF TUNING
Standard of America
Alumni of 2000
Piano Toning, Pipe and Reed Orgao
and Player Piano. Tear Book Free.
27-29 Gainsboro Street
BOSTON, MASS.
Hammacher, Schlemmer & Co.
New York, Since 1848
4th Ave. and 13th St.
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