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Replacement Simplex Valves
By Mark Kraabel

What are rebuilders using for replacement Simplex valves?  I started
working on my piano several months ago and got sidetracked by work,
the kind they pay me to do.  Hoping to get back to the project soon,
I will need to rebuild or replace the valves and am wondering what
others are doing.  The existing valve has the leather and punching
secured under a three-lobed aluminum piece that centers the valve.
See picture at:
http://mtkraabel.home.comcast.net/~mtkraabel/PlayerPiano/images/tn_Waltham_0053.jpg 

An old player piano supply catalog shows a different style replacement:
http://mtkraabel.home.comcast.net/~mtkraabel/PlayerPiano/images/PPC_02.jpg 

While attempting to disassemble the existing valves, I have broken
several of the wooden disks.  I can fabricate new wooden parts and have
a friend who can even punch new aluminum spacers.  The tooling cost is
hard to justify for just one piano.  Would there be a market for these
parts?

More pictures and such can be seen at
http://mtkraabel.home.comcast.net/~mtkraabel/PlayerPiano/stack.html 

Mark Kraabel


(Message sent Fri 11 Dec 2009, 03:16:20 GMT, from time zone GMT-0800.)

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