The posting from Andri Maimaridou and the note from Robbie refers
to a three-month period last year when I had the pleasure of Andri's
company in my workshop and as a house guest.  She was in the UK under
a scheme that helps students acquire knowledge that may not be
available in their home countries.  The Leonardo da Vinci placement
scheme is administered by the Technological Educational Institution
of Athens (T.E.I) and is dependent upon organisations that are willing
to take on students for practical work over a period of three months
as part of that student's diploma course.

Andri is indeed a very talented student who not only learned about
pianolas under my limited tuition but also helped enormously in
returning two instruments to full working order.  We rebuilt a Broadwood
upright with a fairly standard player action and an Angelus with Simplex
action.  The latter required extensive testing of the individual unit
valves to ensure first-rate performance.

Towards the end of her placement with me I managed to find her a pianola
in need of restoration (not too difficult!).  She had it shipped out to
Cyprus and, having now completed her main studies, she is now about to
embark upon rebuilding it.  Supplies from the UK have been sent from
John Farmer of Musicanic and I look forward to hearing of her progress.
My only advice so far is to test, test, and test again!

Roger Waring - The Pianola Workshop
Solihull, UK
http://www.pianola.co.uk/ 

 [ The Leonardo da Vinci programme links policy to practice in
 [ the field of vocational education and training (VET).  Projects
 [ range from those giving individuals the chance to improve their
 [ competences, knowledge and skills through a period abroad, to
 [ Europe-wide co-operation between training organisations.  Ref.
 [ http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-programme/doc82_en.htm 
 [ -- Robbie