Upright Hammer Shank Replacement - Piano Tuning & Repair I HOWARD PIANO INDUSTRIES

[@saveriosalerno9232]

Thank you very much my friend, I have always so much to learn from a skilled piano technician who you are, your website is a treasure trove of knowledge and know-how.
Congratulations again and greetings by your student surfer Italian.
Saverio Salerno

[@071453Baxter]

I have an old spinet that was left curbside to be hauled off. It has been painted with some kind of white paint, and some of the keys have some pretty bad lost action. I want to refurbish this old "Freebie". I have started watching your videos in hopes of making this as painless a process as possible. Thank you for taking the time to make these "How To's" for us lesser skilled heathen.

[@tomlloyd9400]

Too much trouble to get results out of this.

[@sealed2mybff]

Thank you for this! Because of this video, I'm able to fix the broken shanks on my upright piano. I'm not replacing, just fixing.

[@howardpianoind]

Glad it helped!

[@christianwouters6764]

I put a little damp cloth around the butt and the hammerhead and apply a hot hair styling pliers . After about 1 minute the shank is loose without anything being damaged. Moreover, it is in most cases possible to do this without taking the part out of the action, which saves a lot of time.

[@gantmj]

Your junk demonstration action is in a lot better shape than the one in my own piano that I'm repairing.

[@petercacioppo7050]

It would be helpful if you would move your mic closer or turn up the gain on your mic. Very hard to hear on all your videos, although they are all very helpful.

[@kyleunderwood1653]

Peter Cacioppo turn your volume up , douu!

[@gdblackthorn4137]

I have two keys that do not move at all they will not press downward whatsoever. I removed the bridal strap and proceeded to find the screw which holds the hammer assembly. While looking for the screw I noticed that the entire assembly was already loose and moved entirely freely. I proceeded to remove the hammer assembly and found it came out without removing any screw (which I never could find by the way). I found that the hammer butt flange was not attached to the butt when I removed it and the pin for the flange was still mysteriously in place in the butt. I looked into the vacant space where the hammer assembly used to reside and saw a brass piece of metal still attached to the piano. I stumbled upon one on your website which I found was a Brass Hammer Butt Plate. I found that you sold the butt plates and also sold the tool that installs them. I can find nothing whatsoever on how to install one. I have no idea where the hammer butt flange could have gone especially when the pin was still attached to the hammer assembly. It must have gotten completely destroyed somehow. I looked and still could not find those screws which are hidden behind the jacks. I have no idea of how to replace the hammer assembly even after I will have attached a replacement hammer butt flange. I have some pictures but no way to send them to you. I already sent a contact message on the Howard Piano Industries website. Any help would be greatly appreciated since I will have need of tools and parts from your website. Thanks.

[@DARANGULAFILM]

A veteran piano repairer some 60 years ago when I was a kid pointed to burn marks near the shank/hammer junction. He said a heating tool was clamped on the soften the glue for removal and replacement of a hammer head. Would there be any utility in dampening the glue joint then giving the hammer assembly a short time in a microwave oven?

[@howardpianoind]

I have never heard of using a microwave to loosen a glue joint in piano work. After dampening the glue joint you can use a lighter ( I use the kind with a long tube for lighting a stove ) and move the flame back and forth around the glue joint to heat it. I try to not scorch the wood by moving the flame around quickly.

[@medievalmusiclover]

Very interesting videos Mr. Howard. Thank for your patience to show us Your knowledge. I have a question for You. I am musician ( Pianist), But iam really interesting to learn more about it. I am located in Texas. Could You please recomend or suggest any good piano repair school to study? Thank You.

[@howardpianoind]

The Randy Potter School of Piano Technology is a good correspondence course that is very thorough in teaching basic and intermediate level instruction on piano tuning and service. There are several schools but I don't believe there are any in Texas.

[@medievalmusiclover]

Thank You Mr.Howard. God Bless You!!!!!

[@arnastubuttwehak994]

Hot water works a lot better on hide glue, than cold.

[@715planets6]

On all your videos , the audio is too quiet. Please investigate. Thanks.

[@rogerd4559]

do you sell good used hammer sets for uprights

[@howardpianoind]

No, we do not sell used hammer sets. The job of replacing hammers is very labor intensive so it is rarely worth the effort to install used hammers when new ones could be used for a a little more money.

[@pianosurabaya]

What is the name of the tool to remove the hammer

[@howardpianoind]

It is called the Upright Hammer Head and Butt Extractor: www.howardpianoindustries.com/upright-piano-hammer-head-butt-extractor/

[@SuperPianoman2010]

surely water will just swell the wood? ,,,,,, I would use a hot iron tip to either shrink the wood and/or melt the glue

[@howardpianoind]

Hi Colin, Thanks for your suggestion. The reason for the water is that in most cases the glue used would be water based so by applying the water, it would soften the glue so the part could be removed. It does depend on what kind of glue was used though.

[@jack-j3q]

22:35 I heard a woman laughing

[@betterwithagethezolps4608]

M...."

[@715planets6]

Do you also realise that your hands are right in front of the camera.

[@michelprimeau4531]

That's a tedious work. 20min for 1 shank if things goes smoothly. That's almost 30 hours for the whole piano...

[@howardpianoind]

Once you start in the process it gets faster. If you were doing the whole set, you would get a system going which would speed up the process.

[@michelprimeau4531]

@@howardpianoind Thanks I was a bit discouraged.

[@themike97_58]

now u know why its so expensive to get this done professionally. all new hammers is $1k just in parts, and then 20+ hours of labor on top of it.

[@jbrockettm]

Close ups of the action points (screw, etc.) would be helpful. Also, "you might have noticed I removed...." is definitely not helpful. Show us, don't refer back to something you did before...