Very neat.
My tuning student has access to a 3D printer as part of his university courses. I had brought him a jig Ted Sambell sent me, for holding hammer butts while drilling them out for new shanks.
He measured it all up, and has now made all of it but the clamp, which he is looking to buy. Apprently it's printed from wood fiber, and the density of the wood + glue material can be chosen as needed. He says that the highest density wood fiber + glue sometimes clogs the emitters.
I'm attaching a photo of the original jig.
That said, I have sometimes just replaced the metal pedal rod and the crushed teflon end with an honest wooden dowel and half of a metal balance rail pin in each end, plus cloth punchings. That set up easily lasts a century, after all.
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Susan Kline
Philomath, Oregon
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-28-2019 16:32
From: John Formsma
Subject: 3D printer to the rescue
Pretty neat how parts can be made that quickly. I would be curious to see how long that lasts.
For future reference, Schaff Piano Supply recently sent an email that they have those parts. I have not tried Schaff's yet, but I will add them to the next order. I used my last one recently that I had gotten from Yamaha years ago.
You can also use a nail and the correct size plastic anchor if you don't have anything else.
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John Formsma, RPT
New Albany MS
Original Message:
Sent: 05-28-2019 16:26
From: Russell Norton
Subject: 3D printer to the rescue
You know the drill. The piano hasn't been serviced for years but the pedal suddenly stopped working and could I come by and fix it and oh, btw, it might need a tuning as well. Well, it certainly needed a tuning, as well as a hefty pitch correction. The cause of the pedal issue was that the plastic tip had broken off the pedal rod. As we were taking, the husband walked in and I showed him the problem. We pulled the non-broken tip off the other end of the rod and he disappeared with it while I addressed the tuning. Just I was finishing up, he reappeared with a new, blue tip he had printed. Perfect fit and seems to work as intended.
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Russell Norton
BYU Idaho
Rexburg ID
801-687-0266
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