Clean damper wires with metal polish to remove any residue. Then use a wire bending tool to straight up the old bends. It is much easier to regulate the wire from scratch rather than working on old bended wires. When the wires are straightened, put new bends on them. Put wire in its underlever, place wooden sticks under damper heads to replicate the height of damper felt, make sure the under lever can slight on the wire up and down freely, adjust the wire bends accordingly. Also make sure damper heads are centered to strings. After all dampers are in, install damper felts. The weight of sand bags on damper heads helps the felt to be glued on well. Leave glue to dry over night, then the piano is ready to be tuned.
Remove as much remaining soundboard material as possible with chisels. For pianos not being refinished, use rags soaked in hot water to loosen the old glue, then remove the rest of soundboard residue carefully. Three hours on this piano. For pianos going to be refinished, use steam on wet rags to loosen the old glue, then remove the rest of soundboard residue carefully. The steam will damage the old finish. But it's going to be stripped anyways. One hour on this piano.
Divide hammers into sections according to the action or top stack. On the hammers of two ends of each section, mark where to drill on jig of choice. Connect the drilling points through the whole section. Drill, trim hammers to length, cove, taper, and sand arch at tail. Mark strike point on end hammers of each section, hang them as guides according to new design or original hammer position. Hang the rest of the hammers aligning with the guides. Then trim the hammer shanks sticking out of back of hammers (not shown in pictures).
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November 2024
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