Chickering comes home!

Wednesday, March 24th. marked the arrival of our newly restored 1926 Chickering/Ampico 5-8 grand piano. John Zeiner & Sons in Allentown, PA did their usual superb job, replacing the soundboard, bridges, pinblock and strings plus the complete action work, refinishing, hammers and voicing. A new bench was built to match the fine hand rubbed finish. A whole new life has been breathed into this 84 year old reproducing piano. Now it’s up to me to finish the remaining pneumatic components (stack, pump and expression regulators). A few weeks ago, I brought my pianist daughter, Katy to Allentown to try out the action and tone quality. This was the first time in a long while, the craftsmen at Zeiners shop have heard musical entertainment in their shop. They are wonderful tuners but there is not a single performer among them. Everyone enjoyed Katy’s repertoire of classical music.

While in PA, we picked up another load of over 200 piano rolls from Keystone to scan, which has now been done. More than half of this lot consisted of Welte Licensee rolls and the rest were some of the hard-to-find Ampico titles. Richard Groman and friends are doing a great job finding those rare titles and it’s exciting to see the library getting much closer to being complete. Only a couple dozen items remain on the want-list.

Since the last update, the primary chest was completed, tested and tubed to the stack. The stack was disassembled, critical components marked and measured and all unit valves have been disassembled with almost zero damage. The striker pneumatics came off quite easily as the gauze and glue joints were quite dry and ready to let go. I made a set of stainless steel lower valve seats which came out quite nicely. I am debating whether to actually use them since I am getting some conflicting opinions as to whether this material is compatible with the leather valve facings. The original seats were preserved and can be restored.

I have had the priviledge of meeting an expert Ampico restorer who shall remain nameless for the time being. He has taken an interest in this project and has been willing to share some of his knowledge with me. I’ve already picked up some very useful pointers on the application of hot glue. There are a number of tools and equipment items which are in the process of being acquired. Some of these techniques are proprietary and I have agreed not to reveal certain details on this forum. Let me just say that 40 years from now, the next person to restore this Ampico action will find it no more difficult than an original unrestored unit. Perhaps the only clue that it is not original and unrestored will be that the craftsmanship is unusually neat in appearance compared with typical Amphion factory standards.

Congratulations to Katy Doe on being accepted at two upstate NY colleges for a dual major in piano and voice (Crane School of Music and Fredonia). She just did a third audition at Westminister College in Princeton, NJ and I’m sure the outcome will be the same. Congratulations also go to my daughter, Melissa Eppard and her husband Joey. They are expecting a baby boy in June (My first grandchild). 

 

We’re nearly there!

The holiday season is a busy time for ‘Daddy Groman’s Moravian Bake Shop’ and while visiting Bethlehem, PA last week, my services as part-time electrician and cookie cutter were employed. A new ground-fault circuit breaker brought the outdoor Christmas scene to life and many thousands of Moravian Star sugar cookies were baked. Over 200 piano rolls were inspected and repaired in preparation for scanning. Included are some rare and unique unissued Ampico factory trial rolls from the Alan Mueller collection in Rochester, NY. I saw one leader signed in pencil by Charles Stoddard. On this roll can be seen numerous pencil marks instructing the editing staff to lengthen or ‘bleed’ many of the notes. Another setup roll has a curious pencil mark showing how the pumping lines were contrived. It appears this trial roll was played on a piano with a pencil attached to a lever (probably) from the pumping bellows reservoir. A person familiar with how the music should be expressed, plays the roll and expresses using the pumping treadles. From this marked roll, a new stencil master is punched on the stencil machine. As this is being done, the machine operator manipulates a pointer to follow the penciled pumping line. This causes the left edge of the stencil master to be trimmed (or marked for trimming) to a wavy edge, following the pumping line. As proof, we have many stencil masters which have these wavy left edges. The perforators had to be equipped to ‘track’ this left edge and move the pens as the 30 copies of the roll were being punched. We haven’t seen these edge tracking mechanisms since they had long ago been removed from the perforators but the pen tray frames are still attached and serve as guides for the incoming paper.

 

We set up another computer for editing and correcting the MIDI punch master files and now everyone at Keystone is fully trained to perform this function independently. We ran a few titles on the perforators including one Republic 88 note tune, ‘Spankin’ the Baby’.

 

All this hard work toward the upcoming catalog left little time for tickling the pianos. This was remedied Saturday evening as Richard and I trekked to a foggy undisclosed location in Pennsylvania coal country to attend a 1920′s themed holiday party named ‘All That Jazz’. Due to the clandestine nature of the other party guest’s occupations, it was necessary to mask their identities in the photos and the invitation had to be redacted. Many thanks to hosts ‘Brian’ and ‘Melissa’ for the wonderful entertainment and buffet.

 

Earlier in the week, we checked in on John Zeiner & Sons to see what progress had been made on the 1926 Chickering Ampico. We were very pleased to see the cabinet finish nearly done and the plate, pinblock, strings and hammers have been installed. All that remains are the dampers, several tunings and hammer voicing. We’re nearly there!!!

 

Over the past few weeks, the primary chest has been disassembled, scraped and sanded. The vacuum channels have been reamed and resealed. All valve leather facings have been replaced. While inspecting the vacuum channels, one was found to be partially obstructed by the original sealant which was rather thick and lumpy as if it had some sawdust mixed with it. This obstruction was in the hole at the bottom of one pouch well and blocked more than half its diameter. It’s amazing it was not seen and corrected at the time the pouches were being affixed. I’m glad I decided to replace all the pouches. Quite a few of the sieves were haphazardly installed and would not have protected the bleeds from clogging. Overall, there wasn’t really very much dust or lint found. Maybe this piano wasn’t used all that much. All bleeds were removed and polished inside and out. A gage pin was inserted into each orifice to assure all were identical in size. Two potential ciphers were discovered while sealing the vacuum channels. These could manifest if certain screws were loose or missing. Next, I will make a special vacuum operated pouch setter to properly dish these pouches.

 

Congratulations to daughters Laura and Katy for their recent music recitals. Laura did her half-hour recital at Crane School of Music, performing several difficult pieces by Donazetti and Debussy in Italian and French. I was privileged to view the performance VIA Skype video connection. Katy represented her school at the NYSSMA All-State Conference in Rochester, NY, performing in the women’s chorus as alto in section 2. I’m very proud of you both!

Tubing the Ampico-A drawer

The machine shop modifications to the cast aluminum transmission frame were successfully executed. It fits and works exactly as the original part.

 

A little Mill Wax restored the shine to the spoolbox and the drawer frame cleaned up nicely. A few of the removable bottom panels could use repainting but higher priorities prevail. Next, all restored pneumatics were assembled into the drawer. Some careful study and comparison was done between my disassembly sketches and the tubing diagrams I had obtained. This drawer was in original condition and almost completely intact. I was able to make a detailed sketch of all unbroken tubing connections before disassembling it. Between David Saul’s 1925 drawer diagram and the popular Amphion tubing diagram, I was able to account for those few broken or missing tubes which were mostly on the bass end of the drawer. This,  being a late 1926 type 8 drawer, did not exactly match either of the two diagrams mentioned above. The main difference is in how the reroll circuit components are connected. There is a 5/32 tee fitting with a .046" orifice installed but it is located in such a way as to delay the reroll signal from the tracker bar to the roll accelerator. I believe this is done to give the transmission time to shift into the reroll position before the air motor can begin to accelerate. The pump cutout is no longer teed to the accelerator. It is connected directly to the slide valve on the transmission shift lever. (see sketch provided)

 

Some additional study was done of my tubing sketches of the piano belly. There were more missing and broken tubes in this area and my sketches contained a number of question marks particularly in the area of the feedthrough blocks on each end of the primary chest. With the aid of the tubing diagrams and my hand sketches, I was able to account for 100% of the missing tube connections. My drawing of these feedthrough blocks has been included in the photo album.

 

After seeing a number of other Ampico-A restorations and hearing of peoples frustrations trying to replace lead tubing with rubber under the drawer, I decided to try something different. I designed and made a set of fanning strips which arrange the rubber tubing into two neat interleaved layers. The exact number of tubes in each of 4 areas was mapped and the space constraints determined. The Autocad layout proved everything would fit in the available space, so I proceeded to make the fanning strips out of 1/8" thick aluminum sheet. The photos illustrate what an astounding success this was. The main advantage is the ability to remove and replace a single tube if one should ever become obstructed or punctured during the useful life of the restoration.

 

At one point, I was looking into finding exact replacements for the equalizer springs. My search was unsuccessful and thanks to Noxon-7 metal polish, the original parts will now be usable.

 

Next, I will restore the take-up spool and do some actual spooling and alignment using a test pump.

 

Another trip to Keystone is penciled in sometime before Xmas.

 

 

Ampico perforator now producing Atlas rolls

The Mount Mansfield project has been complete for two weeks now. Both WVPS-FM and WEZF-FM are able to operate at full power from the new master antenna. Winter arrived early at the summit and some of the transmitting equipment had to be moved in the midst of a snowstorm. We kept four sets of tire chains on my truck and used it to shuttle up and down the 4.5 mile toll road until the conclusion of the project. There were issues encountered with the Harris transmitters which were reluctant to be turned back on after the move. Many parts had to be shipped overnight and replaced in order to maintain a full-power signal for Vermont Public Radio’s scheduled annual fund drive. Upgrades to the intermediate power amplifier were installed. There were many issues with the aging WEZF transmitter as well. The exciter quit the moment it was turned off at the old location and several components in the high voltage power supply fell to pieces during the move. After a thorough inspection and refurbishing, we feel the equipment should have no trouble staying on the air through the winter. All of these repairs were not included in the original quote to relocate the equipment and we have been assured the extra expenses will be compensated. Many thanks to the WCAX-TV 3 transmitter staff; Ted Teffner, Harold, Fred Lavenberg and Russel Fraser, for their gourmet cooking, hospitality and assistance.

After returning home, progress resumed on the Chickering Ampico drawer components. Many brass and nickel plated items were restored using Noxon-7 metal polish. The original and replacement transmissions were disassembled. A cast aluminum transmission had been procured to replace the original pot metal transmission which was still intact but full of cracks and badly warped. The Noxon metal polish did a fine job putting a mirror finish on some of the badly oxidized brass gears (see photos). This replacement cast aluminum transmission seems to have some issues. It appears to have been used for some time in another piano but its dimensions do not exactly match my original transmission. The boss for the output shaft is 1/8" smaller in diameter and the location of the mounting holes is substantially different. In addition, a piece of the frame is broken off which is meant to hold one of the phenolic sprocket wheels in position on its shaft (see photo). I can fabricate a new sleeve for the undersize boss and machine the frame mounting holes to match the original spacing. I can also machine the frame to accept a new bracket for the sprocket wheel locator. Ebay buyers beware. I guess the ultimate solution will be to try and procure one of Bob Streicher’s machined brass transmission frames and install the left-over gears into it. If a feeble attempt had been made to install the aluminum frame with its mismatched mounting holes, a serious roll tracking problem would have been encountered. The long drive shaft which couples the wind motor to the transmission needed to have new felt bushings installed into its mounting blocks.

On Oct. 29, I was able to make a trip to Keystone Music Rolls in Bethlehem where I stayed for a few days to setup the Ampico perforator for recutting Atlas 88 note rolls. I succeeded in making a run of 15 exact copies of Paul Manganaro’s original roll; "Outside" pb Mabel Cowan. This is one of the best arrangements I’ve ever heard on an 88 Note roll! It is sure to be included in Keystone’s next catalog. While there, a large lot of word stamping sheets arrived. Each sheet contains the lyrics for about 5 rolls. Our budding letter-turner Lulu Mae posed for the photo. Look for Keystones next catalog which will include a selection of word rolls coming soon!

While in Bethlehem, I visited John Zeiner & Sons to check on the progress of the 1926 Chickering. When I walked in, Mike was hard at work on rubbing out the finish of the main cabinet. The timing of this visit was good as I was able to take the finished drawer pieces with me. The photos only show the initial stages of the hand-rubbed finish. I didn’t get a photo of the finished drawer pieces but they are amazing. Next, the plate will be installed and the pinblock drilled & reamed, then the new strings and finally the perfect striking point for the new hammers will be established. This should all occur during December. After five tunings and hammer voicing, I will bring my pianist daughter, Katy to do the final acceptance in late December or January. More updates to this blog will be posted as progress is made with the drawer, primary chest, pump, stack and expression regulators.

Wind motor assembled

After ten days of work atop Mount Mansfield for Vermont Public Radio, I was able to get home this weekend and finish assembling the Chickering Ampico wind motor. The photos show various angles before and after restoration. The old rubber cloth was still tight enough to operate the motor but there was some gummy residue in the crankshaft bushings so those got replaced too. This substantially reduced drag on the motor. I was able to clean up the original stained finish adequately on the pneumatic boards. The graphited slide valve ports were quite worn and needed to be lapped. The slide valves got new bushing cloth and rubber cloth. All metal parts were carefully polished and the manifold block sealed and refinished. All internal passages of the valve blocks were sealed as well. This motor is now quite well sealed and refuses to be turned backward when the suction port is sealed off. Notice the uneven spacing between valve blocks and how this was corrected. 40 years from now, the only clue that this is not original factory work will be the presence of packing leather instead of cork on the manifold. I did not alter any aspect of the timing turnbuckles as these wires can easily break and are difficult to replace. The loops in the ends were not very skillfully formed originally but since the motor is working so well, I’ll leave them alone.

 

I am now ready to assemble and tube the entire drawer. I will need some of the refinished wood pieces from John Zeiner & Sons once they are ready.

 

 

Governor and wind motor done

100 more piano rolls have been scanned and uploaded to www.iammp.org . The Chickering Ampico pneumatic components are progressing nicely. I have finished the expression cutout, wind motor governor and most of the wind motor itself. About one more day will be needed to finish assembling the wind motor. That will enable the entire drawer to be assembled and tubed. Remaining are the two expression regulators, the primary chest, the stack and the pump. No news from Zeiner & Sons on the piano refinishing. By now, I would imagine some progress will have been made on the hand-rubbed finish and maybe the plate, pinblock and strings are close to happening.

The photos illustrate the method I used to locate the tiny holes in the cancel pneumatic for the return spring. I inserted short common pins into the existing holes in the wood with the sharp end sticking out. The pins pierce the hinge and pneumatic cloth as these are installed. Later, the pins are pulled out with pliers and the spring can easily be inserted.

The photos also show what was likely to be two reasons this piano stopped working. First, the tempo slide had a severe binding condition which, upon disassembling, was found to have been caused by a split in the wooden box. This split probably occurred at the time of manufacture. The bolt hole pattern in the cover did not match the pattern of pre-drilled pilot holes. 6 out of 7 screws matched, but the one odd location probably was not provided with a pilot hole, splitting the wood and pinching the tempo slide valve. The second fault would have occurred later. This being a warped and cracked tempo aperture plate. These were made of celluloid and all go bad eventually. The new one is brass. Some wood came out with the old plate and I had to mill out a shallow pocket and glue in a thin wooden shim to replace the missing material.

I’m in Stowe, Vermont for the next few weeks to install FM transmitters for Vermont Public Radio at the summit of Mount Mansfield. The wind motor will have to wait for my return.

Third Ampico perforator restoration underway

Components for a third Ampico perforator were brought out of storage, cleaned and assembled last week. When complete, this original Taft Pierce Ampico perforator will be identical to the existing computer-driven machine now in use at Keystone Music Rolls in Bethlehem, PA. This third machine had been unusable due to a damaged intermittent transmission (used for advancing the paper). Thanks to the stepper motor-driven motion control system designed by the author, it will now be possible to place this perforator back into service. The photos show some very seldom-seen views of the perforator components which were broken down into small enough subassemblies to allow the individual parts to be cleaned and moved into the perforator room. Some components weigh nearly 300 pounds and the assembled perforator is estimated to weigh in excess of 1000 pounds.

While in Bethlehem last week, we were fortunate to entertain Ray Scheffy, Paul Manganaro and Randolph Herr. These fellows brought some of their favorite rolls for our enjoyment and some of these rolls are now in the queue to be scanned and recut. Later, we went to Paul’s place nearby for a tour of his beautifully restored collection of automatic musical instruments.

The 1926 Chickering Ampico grand is progressing nicely. The new soundboard is installed into the case. The plate is beautifully gilded with new decals and felts. The new bridges are finished and installed. All cabinet components are in the spray booth being prepped. A new bench is being made up from scratch, reusing only the original lid. I’ve restored most of the pneumatic drawer components and the expression cutout is in process now. It’s looking like another 10 weeks or so for completion of the piano by John Zeiner & Co. Before and after photos have been provided for several of the pneumatic components.