> From: Damon66@aol.com (Damon Atchison)
>
> I fear I have made a terrible mistake with glue.  When a professional
> was showing me the ropes of player piano rebuilding a few years ago,
> he rebuilt my reservoir bellows using this rubbery (when dry) type glue
> called "plastic glue".  You can buy it from the Player Piano Co. ...

It's nice stuff, technically called PVC-E glue.

> I was concerned now though because in the book about rebuilding the
> player piano by Arthur Reblitz (which is a great book) he says only to
> use hot glue or hyde glue on the bellows you mix up in a glue pot, or
> in a double boiler on your stove.

The book was written before PVC-E glue came to be.

> Will my bellows hold?  They're very airtight?

If they are very airtight, no need to rebuild.  Wait another 20 to 30
years.  Then, if you must, recover it using hot glue.

> My old Beckwith needs the piano almost totally rebuilt and I haven't
> ever rebuilt a piano before.  I can take it apart, as any idiot could,
> but I am leary of trying to fix it.  I am going to get the book "Piano
> Tuning, Servicing, and Rebuilding" by Arthur Reblitz, so will this tell
> me what I need to do, and will I be able to do it with that book? (i.e.
> re-string patch soundboard, rebuild bass clef, replace hammers, and
> bridal straps, ect.)  I really don't want to screw anything up!

Like anything else, expertise is developed through repetition.  I
personally would rate rebuilding your own piano right up there next to
self-inflicted root canals, or even self-inflicted cornea transplants.
If you want a professional result, which your player will need to
perform properly, you'll need to save up your money, bite the bullet,
and hire the talents of those who do this for a living.  It's their
problem if they screw up and the job doesn't make the grade.

Reblitz's book is a good one, but doing the task many times in the last
year is better than never doing it ever before.  This sort of outcome is
costly, but then you have a worthy companion, no??

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