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I have been working on a 1960s-era Cable console. The hammer felt was coming undone on a number of hammers:



Apparently, someone had attempted a few repairs, earlier, too:



So the plan was to get out the hide glue and clamps. The only snag that I ran into in this project (that I am aware of...) is that when I went to undo the bridle strap from its wire, a lot of the leathery tab stuff crumbled into sand and powder. Enough was lost that when I went to put the straps back in place on the downhill side of the job, even more came off, making many of the straps unuseable.







Get new bridle straps, right? Only, these are glued into the butt assembly. Replacing them would be a pain in the, well, you know... butt. What to do?

So, I went to the fabric store for a look-see (thinking something along the lines of "iron-on something") and found this stuff called "Pressure Sensitive Nylon," basically, adhesive tent material used for mending tents and things. $2 ante.



So, I cut a tab and pressed it on, and ran a needle through the old hole from the back to give me a pilot for the wire.









My only regret at this point (and until someone chides me for this kind of fix) is that I could not find green material, only blue. I'm sure that somewhere in the universe, there is green. And red.

--Andy

That seems like a nice job. There are spring clip bridle straps that work for butts like these, although they can loosen and rattle, and sometimes they do not hold well. I use plain straps, cut to the proper length, and use a hot glue gun. I put a bead of glue on the underside of the catcher dowel, so there is plenty of surface area for the glue, and place the end of the strap at the catcher, run it towards the butt, and bend it back, so it has the same geometry as the original.

Hi Andy,

This looks like a nice-enough job! I hope that the adhesive holds up in the long term. I've had some iron-on and press-on adhesives fail with time. [Edit: not in a piano, but in household and camping applications.]

Just for your info: the tape ends for bridle straps are also available separately. Not from Schaff, mind you! But some suppliers do have them. If the tapes themselves are still in good condition, it is always an option just to replace the leather ends.

I had a similar situation with the action from a Welmar upright (1959) the other day. The tape ends were not leather to start with, but some glossy artificial material that was totally brittle. I managed to source some bridle tape ends from a local supplier. Unfortunately, these were without holes, but a [Edit: I] made a jig and used a 1.5 mm drill on my drill press to put holes in the tape ends. Didn't take me all that long - perhaps 45 min.

Johnkie advised me on how to remove the old ones and glue the new ones on. It worked a treat, and looks quite neat. In the process of removing the old ones (hot water), the dusty tapes were automatically cleaned. He also sent me a spare set of leather tape ends. (Thanks again, Johnkie.) Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from that part of the job, but it's really quite simple to understand. (Using a jig consisting of a block of wood with a wire knocked into it.)

It looks as though you replaced the catcher buckskins on that action. Did you do the backcheck felts too?

@BDB: Ahh! Clever! There is a lot to like about that idea! Thanks for the tip, BDB! Do you use the hot glue gun because the glue sets up so quickly?

@MarkR: Your way would be the proper-est way! I see that now, and thanks for letting me know that! I was a little apprehensive about the longevity aspects of the press-on material, but figured that, for this piano, it would do, and I could correct it later if it came to that. As to the other felts, no, those are all original. This piano is in amazingly good condition, aside from the fact that 24 hammer felts came undone and the bridle strap felts turned to dust. I'll tune it up tomorrow, and we'll see what kind of a piano it really is!

I generally like to tune a piano before I do anything else. That way I make sure the piano is worth the repairs. If you sell a repair job, do the work and go to tune the piano and then have to tell the customer pin block is shot, you look like a schmuck. (can I say that word on this forum?)
By the way, Allan Gilreath told me something about fixing hammers that had come unglued that can be done in the piano. I don't remember exactly but I am pretty sure it was tightbond trim and molding glue and zip ties to clamp the hammer in place. Cut the tails off and leave the zip tie until next time you come to tune. Done.

Looks great! Congrats on a job well done.

Nice idea improvised. I adverise againt the glue gun, it is not nice and does not stay put always for really long. Even PVA glue can be used (thickened) but as usual, hide glue is the best choice for such jobs.

Staple not passing thru on those hammers..

Hecschers the UK supply house used to have two different shapes of tape ends available. I find very often on old pianos that the leather ends have perished but the braid tape is OK. Sadly Heckschers don't have the tape ends now. Jahn in Germany do similar ones though.

http://www.fletcher-newman.co.uk/catalogue/tapes_shanks/6825.html

Fletcher and Newman still stock tape ends.

Monaco,

"schmuck. (can I say that word on this forum?)
By the way, Allan Gilreath told"

Of course you can use "Schmuck" and "Allan Gilreath" on this board, just never in the same sentence He's such an admired tech, why, I'd have 90 good things to say about him in 90 seconds!

Seems like a good practice, Ben. No argument, there. [edit: On second thought, wouldn't you want to do a once-over with your hands, eyes and ears and give a quick assessment before even tuning it? That's what I did with the Cable console...] Yes, no one wants to be a schmuck. Or a pudd. (Can I say "pudd" on Piano World?) The only thing you're missing from my story is context. I didn't sell a job. I'm actually "donating" my "free" time resurrecting dilapidated pianos at The Conover Square Mall. I was introduced to the mall owner by a mutual friend a few years ago. The mall building started out as the Schiller Piano Factory in the 1800s, which was bought by the Cable piano company, which was bought by the Conover company, which was bought by... well, you get the picture. For more context, you can see this history thread that I started and need to finish! Anyway, the mall is anchored by a bunch of antique shops, and the owner is trying to create a piano gallery to show some of the history of the factory with examples of instruments built there. He's glommed onto a number of pianos. Besides the ones that came with the building, he's found some turn of the century Schiller uprights, 30s and 40s Schiller spinets, 50s and 60s Cable consoles, one 1925 Conover grand, a Schiller grand in rough shape, and a Wurlitzer grand. About 25 pianos in all, some worth nothing but parts. In fact, most of these pianos would be considered junk yard fodder by most of the people who check in daily to this forum. I am taking the pianos that have the most potential and "structural integrity," and trying to bring them back to some sort of useable life. It is piano lab for me, a beginner tuner/tech, and a boon for the mall owner who is happy to see a part of his vision for the mall come to fruition.

This particular Cable console was bought in 1952 (I was wrong that it was a 60s-era console!). It spent most of its life 8 blocks away from the factory in someone's home, and when the piano's owner passed away, it came back to the factory (now mall). It was last tuned in 2010, at which time it was also cleaned and the hammers filed. The tuner also recently passed away, and with him, some information. The piano tuned up pretty nicely, today, though. It has a pleasant tone, but there are issues to address before I'd want to post a recording. It needs a good regulating pass. I'll post a recording of the piano when the time is right.

In the meantime, here is the 1925 Conover 5' grand. It is still not quite where I want it, tuning-wise (still some stretch work to figure out and some unison work to do) but the piano has been revealing its secrets to me...

April Showers (1921) on a 1925 Conover 5' Grand (A period piece on a period instrument (?) ) (BTW, Thank you, Isaac, for wisdom, given in another thread, regarding feeling the springiness of the string and working with the coil. Whether I use the impact method or the pull method, I can sense what is happening and what is needed, now. )

The Conover grand needs a thorough cleaning, including knocking the dust from the bass strings and giving them a twist, plus a good key-leveling and regulation. The bass dampers need a tweek, too.



Although I like the zip-tie idea, personally, I'm as leery of Titebond trim glue as I am about hot glue from a hot glue gun. Titebond trim glue adds bulk, and, as it is very plasticky, it also adds thud. I used Titebond Cold Hide Glue, thusly. The guitar builders told me that they like hide glue because its crystilline structure transmits sound vibrations cleanly. One time, I heard Trevor Stephenson say that if it doesn't crow, moo, or leap, he wouldn't want it in an instrument. Since hide glue is dead cows, it has moo in it somewhere. The reddish/brown material in the pictures is rubber plumber's gasket, which I had on hand from another project. The last picture is entitled "Calling All Clamps!"

David and Johnkie--thanks for the info on the tabs!

Yes, I use the glue gun for several reasons, although chiefly because it sets up quickly. Also, if I need to do it again, it comes off without too much trouble. I use the tip to heat through the strap so it makes a stronger bond. One should choose glue on its merits: there are not a lot of things that I would use the glue gun for, but this is one of them.

I do not use hide glue for hammer felts like this. Yellow glue is stronger and more moisture resistant.

But what about the bulk?

Also, I had your blue school glue idea in the back of my mind when I started this, but opted for hide glue for the reasons I gave, above. I could see the blue school glue for the damper applications, but I just wasn't comfortable with it for something like a hammer felt that has so much springy energy at the bend. Intuition speaking, only--not knowledge. I really like the bridle strap geometry you use.

When I did this, put thinned hide glue on the felt and wood to let it soak in a little, and then, when it had set up some, I put un-diluted hide glue over it before clamping. This I learned to do when the first few that I did with thinned hide glue came apart shortly after I un-clamped them (three out of the 24), but with those, I figured that part of my problem was impatience, and that I un-clamped them too soon. I figured that at least the felt was primed with hide glue, and the second application of full strength stuff seemed to hold very well. I left the clamps on for a number of hours. It was a slow way to do it, but I believe in it. My understanding of the hide glue from the guitar makers and furniture makers is that it stands up well to ambient air moisture, but dissolves nicely when moisture is purposefully applied in order to un-do something. As always, I could be wrong. (I'm kind of used to that, now.) Anyway, we shall see how they hold. At least I'll get to monitor the piano regularly and watch for failure. And if I am not around if it fails, at least the next guy gets to deal with hide glue instead of carpenter's glue.

Thanks, BDB!

Thank you Cinnamonbear, it is appreciated ! The vynil glue (white glue for wood ?) is a very bad option for dampers. I have seen some literally falling by themselves 10 years later .. Hide glue is ideal there.
(I even prefer heat gun glue on straps to dampers glued pva glue)

Impressing gluing back of the felts ! (at this point new hammers are not so much work and their cost is not very high, but I see the job !)

Hide glue (with some skin in the mix) is the "only" glue for hammer felt on exotic wood molding (greasy woods)

Renner statment.. (plus it add tension, which is certainly good)

A couple of years ago (out of pity for a retired school teacher) I actually reglued an entire set of loosening hammer felts on a Yamaha console. I think It also needed the butt springs. Due to the combination job, all the butt assemblies were removed from the piano for work. I actually used hide glue, a microwave oven, and thread. No clamps. After an experimental shot or two, a pattern of thread wrapping was chosen, so that the entire set would look alike. Since each wrap of thread can apply accumulating pressure, this works well. Using the microwave on power level one or two can gently warm the assembly without burning a center pin bushing, etc.(You can even shield that area with a tent of foil, if you prefer. Just keep a good distance between the brass pin and the foil. You don't want a spark across to generate heat.) If you don't have power levels, a zap of six to nine seconds per heating is all you want. Zap, apply glue, wrap,... and re-zap, if you stall out on one and the parts get too cool.

As the thread pressure increases, it sinks in and holds position pretty well. On the larger (bass) hammers I sometimes had to put a tiny nick in the felt to create a place for the thread to grab, so as not to slip down the slope, so to speak. Hammers that were more stubborn needed a pair of needle nose vise grips to help with the initial pressure, then the rest of the closure was secured by the wraps of the thread. I would grab the felt with the v. grips about mid-way, start wrapping beyond them toward the big end of the hammer head, then release the grips as the wrapping got to the plier.

The wrapping pattern was something like this:
1. Three wraps atop each other
2. A diagonal move of about 3 - 4 mm
3. Three more wraps, then another diagonal move
etc.
On the smaller hammers, requiring less pressure, the number of wraps would be three to start the first band and on the last band, but only two on the intermediate wrap bands. By being consistent, the job looked decent enough to leave in place. Since I did not peel every single surface, by leaving the thread wrap, I don't think that the others will give way - at least not in the next twenty years by which time it will need new hammers anyway and will likely be in the hands of heirs.

The thread was an ivory or cream color and was left on the hammers - a typical sewing thread. It is stronger than you think. Since it can work into the creases of your skin near your knuckles as you work, same tape was applied to my skin to keep from cutting there.

After shaping I think I liked the tone better than I ever had before. They were plenty bright, but not brittle like some older Yamaha hammers can be, so the job seemed worthwhile.

I have not seen this on any other Yamaha, but have seen it on quite a few Baldwins and Aeolian products of '70s - '80s vintage.

Well, an original Yamaha vertical set is sold between 120 to 140 Euros plus VAT...

I never have seen yamaha heads coming unglued , that would have surprised me .

Nice work Cinnamonbear! I had a similar issue last summer on a very old spinet that was not worth a lot of restoration - wish I had thought of this at the time. I did something else makeshift to keep it working - can't even remember at the moment.

I'm jealous of you people that actually think to take pictures while you're working on a project. I never think of that until a day or two later.

Yes, Olek, the point of cost was a close call.

Basically, I did this on what I often call the "butter bean shelling" plan. Some might call it basket weaving. It is doing work in the evening while watching television and not thinking of it as full-rate labor. The felt was barely worn. The piano is gently used. Sadly, the hammer felt glue had utterly failed.

I charged about sixty percent of what I would have for a new set of hammers. Will I do it again? Perhaps not, but in this one odd instance I did so, and the result was good. She is happy and spent less for a more than satisfactory result.

Two weeks ago, however, I did a new set of hammers on a Baldwin 243 which had the same problem. I did not even mention the idea of my Houdini thread trick this time.

Perhaps this should start a new thread: "Appropriate, Yet Odd Repair Jobs."

I had to laugh at the title of the post, "Bridle Strap Band-Aid". I have seen this repair done with the sticky section of a Band-Aid wrapped around the tab. I have no idea who did the repair; and yes, I left well enough alone.