Hiya hiya,

At the risk of being unpopular, and popular at the same time, I'll
include with this post a BMP file that shows the tool described below.
This file can be viewed using the Windows 3.1 included software called
Paintbrush (I'm not sure about Win95 or Mac users).

I recently had to deal with a full set of dual leather nuts on a player
action that would have made my fingers raw for weeks had I not come up
with this idea.  I started removing the leather nuts with standard
"slip jaw" pliers and found the old leather nuts mushy, self
destructing, difficult to remove, and quite time consuming.  I had to
come up with a better method to speed things up a bit.  That particular
day, my grey matter was working quite well, and I brained this tool in
just a matter of a few moments of time, well spent.  I had a worn hex
extender, the kind used with so many cordless screwdrivers these days.
The end that accepts the various different tips and bits, was pretty
well worn so that some times the bit would slip and become jammed
inside the extender rendering it quite a bit less versitile.  I managed
to get the last bit out of it and set it aside wondering what I would
do with it some day.  This day came.  I filled the worn end with
automotive body putty/fiberglass resin and hardener/bondo.  Before the
putty set, I inserted two short pieces of very stout piano wire, the
type you'd find in the bass string core for the lowest note on a grand
piano.  They were positioned so that they were directly across from
each other at the very outer edge of the inside of the filled cavity.
They were cut so they'd only protude by about a quarter inch (5 mm) or
so.  After the "bondo" hardened, I sharpened each prong to a sharp
tip.  I then drilled a very shallow spot in a piece of wood, so that
the cup shape in the wood left by the tip of the drill bit was just
large enough to accomodate a leather nut so that it wouldn't wander
around on me as I stabbed it with this tool.  The tool worked great for
installing new ones powered by a cordless screwdriver as long as I
stabbed them squarely across the center.  It also removed the old ones
quite easily and quickly as they already had numerous holes in them
from a (I'd assume) previous and similar type of tool.  The old ones
came off in one piece, and could have been reused.

An additional usage for this tool showed up while I was doing my final
tweaking and adjusting of the leather nuts.  There wasn't room for my
fingers and the new ones were too good looking to be mangleing with the
above mentioned pliers, so I lightly stabbed them in the diameter, or
outer circumference to facilitate spinning and adjusting them.  The
prongs really got a grip on the leather and didn't seem to show any
signs of shredding or leave any marks behind.

In retrospect, I could have improved the tool with an additional prong
or two, but that would have also increased the amount of pressure
needed to get a good, controling, prong penetrating stab in the new
leather nuts.  The additional prongs would have made the positioning of
the prongs on the new nuts less critical, hence the nut would have a
lesser tendency to become tilted when applying pressure on a threaded
post, rod, or lever as it's being turned on to it for the first time.
The job moved along quite well as I'd position the nut in the shallow
divot made by the drill bit in the wood, position the tool mounted in
the cordless screwdriver, prongs properly positioned I'd whack the
back/top of the tool and the prongs would penetrate and the nut would
be stuck on firmly ready for installation to a new home for the next 80
years.

I could see where this tool would be really handy at a very crowded
place, like during the xmas shopping season, or at outdoor music
festivals, long lines at the bathroom, neighborhood disputes, dog
training, neighborhood kid training, and it most likely would stirrup a
quiet night at the Hoskins Hos Ranch with them hosses stampedin
suddenly...... hmmmmm.

Lar

•                         Larry Fisher RPT
   specialist in players, retrofits, and other complicated stuff
      phone 360-256-2999 or email larryf@pacifier.com
         http://www.pacifier.com/~larryf/ (revised 10/96)
           Beau Dahnker pianos work best under water

• [ Editor's Note:
 [
 [ I've placed Larry's file on the FTP server.  Most browsers
 [ can display the image automatically:
 [
 [      ftp://ftp.foxtail.com/pub/mechanical-music/misc/lthrnttl.bmp
 [
 [ (That name means "Leather Nut Tool")
 [
 [ Jody