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MMD > Archives > November 2015 > 2015.11.26 > 04Prev  Next


Angelus Player Piano Disassembly
By Steve Bentley

Luke, your piano description brings both good news and bad news.
Werner used Schultz player actions.  They are unique to themselves, and
the bottom bellows unit is not compatible with others, as there are
controlling components mounted on the pump boards.  If your upper stack
still plays, that's great, since rebuilding the valve units takes a lot
of time, and the parts are very tiny!  The roll motor also is unique to
this brand.  So, I would take up the offers of free materials.

I will stick my neck out here and suggest that, for this project, you
make a hot glue pot out of an inexpensive small crock pot (check the
thrift stores for one, although Big Lots, etc. often have them new for
under $15).  It will keep the glue fairly close to the 140 degrees it
needs.  Mix your glue in a small canning jar that fits in the pot.

Read the rebuilding articles at Player-Care.com.  Ask for help when you
need it!  Recovering the pumping bellows isn't hard, but it does take
some time and lots of patience.  I think that taking the old material
off is sometimes more painful than gluing the new stuff on!  Yes, the
roll motor does take some doing.  Be careful to document stuff before
you take it apart.  Photographs are really helpful.  And measure,
measure, measure stuff so you know how far open the bellows are.  Then
you can glue the new material on so that the opening stays the same.

It is much easier to fix what you have than to mix & match parts,
unless they are the same make and model.  Some makers standardized
their components, while others were custom-fitted to the particular
make & model of piano.

BTW, my BA degree is in Industrial Arts, very similar to your current
field of study.

David Dewey


(Message sent Thu 26 Nov 2015, 02:25:35 GMT, from time zone GMT-0800.)

Key Words in Subject:  Angelus, Disassembly, Piano, Player

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