Hello to MMD!  My name is Ferdinand Pointer and I have been an RPT
(Registered Piano Technician) in the Piano Technicians Guild for 26
years.  I am a player piano tuner, technician and restorer located in
Clearwater, FL.  I have been reading the MMD for about four years via
the Archives and I guess it is time to subscribe to the MMD and join in
on the replies.

I have supplied parts or helped many MMDers via private e-mail
throughout this time.  If you were to do a search of the MMD Archives
you would find a citation about Kimball gears for sale in a post by
Debbie Legg on 1998.05.25 referring to me.  I have received several
inquires and sold or installed at least eight gears in the last couple
of years from this mention alone.  The price has gone up as my cost
have increased and my address has changed, but yet they have reached
me.

The gear I am referring to is found in the late models E and F
Kimballs.  This is the unit using the single DC motor and a gearbox
with six rivets holding it together.  This little box has six gears
inside.  Three are metal and three are plastic.  Of the plastic gears,
one is of black Delrin and the other two are of white nylon.  I have
never seen a failed motor, but only the black gear stripped.

After two years of searching I never found any gears to match the pitch
of the gear.  I finally got a gear in good enough shape to have it
reproduced in brass by Bob Streicher.  As I had to purchase the cutting
head for the pitch, he only makes this gear for me in a minimum order
of 24.

I currently have about 20 of them in stock at a price of $80 each, or
I will install it and test it for $120 if you send me the transmission.
To this date I have supplied or installed about 35 gears.  There are
a lot of these pianos out there and they can certainly be fixed.
I am relativity sure that this is the unit of the recent thread on
the subject installed in Mr. Borg's piano.

Ferdinand Pointer - The Piano Company
Clearwater, FL