Hello, Paul, I understand that you are looking for a brass pressure
bar for a barrel piano. I'll bet you will have a tough time trying
to buy one new or even adapting a bar from an old piano.
Many times I am asked where I got the parts to restore some
instrument that was made 150 years ago. I usually smile and point
down to my shop in the basement. Other than piano parts and a few
common parts for music boxes, you have to make them. Barrel organs
and pianos? Forget it!
But, from your description, I think you could make a pressure bar
yourself without much trouble. In the USA, we have a great company
called McMaster Carr. They ship materials the same day at very
reasonable cost and minimal postage. The URL for their copper/brass
materials section is http://www.mcmaster.com/#copper/=crsw3k
I'm sure you can find a similar source in the UK. In fact, many
scrap metal dealers come across the same material at much lower cost.
Make a "V" groove along the side of a straight piece of hardwood to
support the round shape of the brass bar. Make a flat on each end
of the bar (and maybe another in the middle) so you can screw the bar
into the groove so it won't turn while you handle it.
I have a tapered sanding disk for my table saw so I would pass the
brass bar/hardwood mount between the fence and the sanding disk
several times to make a flat on one side. Drill and countersink
a few holes and you have a new pressure bar. You could also do the
same thing with a drum sander and a fence on your drill press or
spindle sander.
I'll bet it would take less time to make a pressure bar than you've
spent calling around to find one. Good luck.
Craig Smith
Upstate New York
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