Hello MMD.  A couple of weeks ago I wandered into Hobart's only player
piano rebuilding establishment and got talking to the technician.
I had dropped my wife off at the eye doctor's and figured I had about
an hour to spare before she would be finished.

He revealed that there were four Recordo rolls among a big heap of
rolls that had recently come into the shop; did I want them?  Of course
I did, and carted them gleefully away.  Unfortunately I had grossly
over-estimated the duration of my wife's appointment, so she didn't
give the rolls the admiration that I felt they deserved.

Later that evening when things had calmed down I gave the rolls a trial
play.  One of them was a big Imperial Automatic Electric and, being an
Imperial roll, was on high-quality waxed paper.  It was in almost new
condition.  Not so the spool ends -- they were made of that early black
plastic, and each had a flange that was distorted in one quadrant.  My
guess is that the roll was kept in a too-hot place at some time.

Assuming that heat did cause the distortion, I'm wondering if it can be
reversed.  I'm thinking of making up a metal block and drilling a hole
perpendicular to the top surface of the block.  The diameter of the
hole would be slightly larger than the diameter of the shaft on the
spool end.  I would then put the block and the spool end into the oven
or the microwave and cautiously turn up the heat.  My hope is that the
distorted part of the spool end will slump down to its original shape.
It may need a bit of help from an operator wearing heat-proof gloves.

This is probably a mad idea that will only earn me more domestic
opprobrium, but I would be glad to hear from anyone who has tried to
do this.

The obvious alternative -- use a replacement spool end -- isn't so easy
in Tasmania.  They are almost impossible to find.  I could buy new
ends, but those modern skinny ones just don't look as elegant as the
old ones.

John Phillips in Hobart, Tasmania