The general meeting for this month will be held on Tuesday, February 11, 2014 starting at 7 p.m. at:

Please note: Frank and Camille's closes at 8 p.m. The meeting must begin promptly.

This month's technical class will be given by Bill Maguire of the Long Island-Suffolk Chapter, on a much requested topic by our members: "Innovative, Efficient , Comprehensive Piano Cleaning"

Bill is a second generation piano technician from Greenlawn, Suffolk County. He is 48 years old, with over 30 years experience, and a member of PTG and Suffolk LI chapter for more than 20 years. He primarily restores pianos and does miscellaneous "niche" repairs. Bill had a feature article published in the PTG Journal on repinning (larger tuning pins and loose tuning pin solutions) in the January 2001 issue (with many others planned), and was mentored by the late, great Joe Sciortino (Member of Note award recipient), as was our newest member Frank Davis, and most of the Suffolk Chapter. He had the privilege of sharing a booth selling piano and player piano tools at the Providence, RI convention with him as well. Joe also helped him innovate some great player piano tools, and Mark Haas demonstrated them at several PTG conventions. Joe Sciortino's legacy is evident in Bill's way of thinking in mechanically inclined ways, bringing passion and enthusiasm to his work resulting in innovative solutions.

Class desciption: "Innovative, Efficient ,Comprehensive Piano Cleaning"

There are many well known tools and techniques available for use in piano cleaning. But, there are also many areas NOT "well addressed" or not addressed at all) by these well known existing tools and techniques. MANY unanswered questions remain. I think I can do a good job "filling in MOST of the blanks by demonstrating my " efficient, comprehensive piano cleaning system." All my tools fit in a "very reasonably sized" cleaning kit. I will show you how I efficiently remove the loose dirt and dust (under strings, between tuning pins plate etc), remove rust and tarnish from the strings and around the tuning pins, coils, bridge pins etc. I will show how I clean the plate, under the strings (including the soundboard) and between the tuning pins. I have a very good technique for cleaning behind the bridges. I will also go into cleaning the action, action cavity, underlevers, underneath etc.

The Executive Committee will meet prior to the general meeting at 5 p.m. at the Carle Place Diner, on the northeast corner of Old Country Road and Glen Cove Road.

Here are three preparatory steps that should be taken before replacing a broken agraffe, which can make the procedure quicker and easier:

Before doing anything else, remove the action and place some newspaper or plastic sheet on the keybed under the work area, and then apply some Liquid Wrench to the thread. In the few minutes that you are preparing to proceed, the penetrating oil will have time to loosen and lubricate the threads in the plate hole, and facilitate removal.

Assuming that you intend to reuse the old strings (especially in the understrung tenor section), clamp a vise-grip locking pliers on the hitch-pin of the affected note (needle-nose are best). Occasionally the tail of the string will jump off the hitch as you pull on the coils to straighten them, or as you are pulling and sliding the agraffe off the bent areas that were the coils . This will avoid a lot of unnecessary work when reinstalling the string, and assure that the string will not “flip,” and that you are maintaining the correct left-right orientation to avoid crossed strings.

It is also very helpful to use a small pointed conical grinder attachment in your Moto-Tool on the top surface of the broken agraffe to remove the usual irregularities. A smoother, flatter surface will make it easier to be certain that your punch centers accurately before drilling; it is even better if you can achieve a shallow concave depression with the grinder tip, which will help guide the punch into the center.