Hi Gang -- Roger Waring asked me why Durrell Armstrong's written advice
caused me to ruin a set of Simplex pneumatics.

Many years ago we had an old Hallet & Davis player with a Simplex
action.  We wanted to rebuild this piano; I think it was our second
restoration.  The PPCo. instructions told you to put the Simplex units
in water, and drill the wooden dowels in the side of the unit
pneumatics with a small hole to keep the swelling from splitting the
top piece.

Well, they did come apart and didn't split anything, but when I tried
to put them back together, the small piece of wood that contains the
pouch had warped badly, and it was impossible to glue them back
together.  It ruined the units.

I had another Simplex action, so I used my trusty steam iron to take
apart the second set.  As soon as the unit would come apart, I would
dry it and set it aside.

There are more pitfalls in rebuilding Simplex units.  Keep the power
sander far away from them!  Don't try to sand the wood where the gasket
goes with a power sander, or they will stick out every which way when
they are screwed back on the chest.

And don't try to sand the pouch board with one, either.  The wood is
soft and you can quickly ruin the unit by power sanding.  If you try to
power sand the old cloth off, It is easy to cut too deep, ruining the
small bridge of wood between the pouch and valve on the side of the
pneumatic.  A piece of sandpaper taped to glass will clean them up
without ruining them.

Since then I have rebuilt several without disaster, including a big old
Lakeside player that Bill Jelen has which is really easy to pump.

Andy Taylor