•> Subject: Removing player actions!!!?? > These piano stores/tuners who do this should be taken out to the wood > shed!!!! [ ... and spanked.] No, let the punishment fit the crime. I think their flexible tubing should be boiled in hot glue. Larry Mayo ...

•Regarding the removal of player actions, there _is_ more than one or two reasons for this destruction. I spent 30 minutes talking to a customer with a Duo-Art about how nice they are to have restored. He didn't want any, and he owed me on his piano action. He has two daughters who are both taking l...

•wow!!! Looks like I've started a "landslide". I agree with all of the comments about removing player actions. Please don't think I am against piano tuners... I tune them too!!! It was once said that over two million players were built... now many years later many are destroyed accident, on purpose...

•I agree with the postings regarding the crime of removing player actions from classic pianos. As an installer for PianoDisc, I have turned down three installation jobs for individuals who wanted to convert their pneumatic players to the new MIDI technology. Unfortunately the new action is basically...

•Dear Subscribers, Bruce Clark touches upon a sensitive issue - one to which we can all relate and involving decisions with which we can all sympathize. Don't throw that old player action out! Give it to me! But who really wants it? Not the dealer - its not financially sensible. Not the musician - i...

•D.L. Bullock's offer of unrestored players is very intriguing to me, and probably to a lot of other MMD'ers. Can you give some more details about these? Are you talking about grands, uprights, or both, and are they straight players, reproducing pianos, or both? What name brands? If you'd make up a ...

•Ok, I get the picture that people seem to be totally against removing player action for what appears to be any reason whatsoever. Is it ever "OK" to do so? I have a old Starck. The player mechanism itself is in "mostly workable" condition - having had at least a partial restoration done at one poin...

•Greetings, all. Bruce Clark's comments regarding his use of a "vintage rotary ironer" to remove the wrinkles from rolls caused me quite a flashback to my college photography classes. In the various darkrooms were several sizes of rotary "drum" dryers, used for drying photographic prints. They utili...

•Roger Waring wants to know what he's in for. It's been 20+ years since I tore my Weber D-A grand apart and rebuilt it, but in theory the job is not too nasty. Almost everything is connectorized. The lower key tubing is attached to connector blocks, maybe 15-20 notes per block. You unscrew those fro...

•Hi Everyone! As to Mr. Roger Waring and his Duo-Art grand, there a few things I could say: First, suspect _all_ tubing and Hoses! To remove the action follow yesterday's advice from Mr. Mike Knudsen, but don't forget that all the connector manifolds, those beneath the keybed and the one on the uppe...

•Been there, done it. Considering the condition of the tubing, it is going to be more than an all-day job to remove the action, since all the tubing will most likely need to be replaced. If you need copies of the tubing diagram and maintenance book, I can help. To remove the action, you must first r...

•I have had success with the removal of minor dents with the steam method. I have only done this after the finish was removed, so I don't know how useful this will be for a piano with the finish in tact. If the wood fibers are not broken, the application of gentle wet heat will cause them to relax a...

•Dear MMD, Now that we're getting to re-rebuild some of the players that were done over in the '60's and '70's with white glue, are there any techniques MMD members have come up with in dealing with the stuff? I am rebuilding a stack where the pneumatics were reattached with white glue. I have had l...

•Bill, That white glue is a curse to rebuilders. It works great for us woodworkers though. Just the right amount of setup time and great holding power. Your removal method is similar to mine. Just keep scraping and sanding until it is all removed. White glues are soluble in weak acid (vinegar). A so...

•Bill Maxim wrote: "... are there any techniques MMD members have come up with in dealing with the stuff?" ... I use my wife's clothing steamer. It's slow, but the combination of heat and moisture works better than anything else I've tried. The steamer is fantastic for normal hot glued leather. Jack...

•A tool which might be useful in removing white glue is a "cabinet scraper". Available for less than $10 from most woodworker's supply companies, a scraper is a piece of flat, .020" thick piece of steel with a microscopic hook edge on it. This edge is dragged across wood and produces a fine shaving ...

•When I've come across this problem and there is enough wood to allow a person to do this, I simply pass the pieces of wood through my jointer. Or sometimes I will take a thin shaving off with a table saw. I always use a metal detector (a nail-finding stud detector works well here) on the wood befor...

•Silicone removal is a problem when painting cars that have been waxed with silicone containing waxes. There are solvents made to remove the silicone residue. Maybe they would work on pouch boards. Dow 111 high vacuum grease will not migrate with vacuum. It is intended for use with high vacuum in cr...

•Its not until someone says, "Well, I never thought of that!" that you realise that maybe you do have a tip to pass on. Getting the old grey rubber tubing off brass nipples is a real pain, as more often than not, its welded itself on. So, arm yourself with a medium soldering iron with a bit the size...

•I have good luck getting rubber tubing off tracker bars by soaking the tracker bar in gasoline for several days. I use an artillery shell carrier that I got at a war surplus store. It has an air tight seal and is big enough to hold a tracker bar. John Dewey