[ Ref. Troy Taylor in 161029 MMDigest ]

The push rod pops out the end of the pneumatic in the little slot cut
for it.  Yes, the top fiber seats were reproduced.  Yes, the gaskets
are still made.

Yes, breaking the pneumatic apart without destroying it is an art.
There are several opinions as to the best way to break them apart.
One method was to take as much off the unit as possible, sanding the
sides gently to remove the cloth then dropping them in boiling water
for a minute.  They then break apart easily.  Sometimes warpage is a
problem with this method and that is not good.

Some guys run a chisel all the way around the pneumatic, gently tapping
it till it pops open.  I have heard of guys putting them in a microwave
oven and popping them apart.  Note: there is a metal piece inside of
them for the machine screws so damage could result to the oven or the
pneumatic.

Some guy in Louisiana just made a new set for his piano as others have
done.  I guess it depends on the climate the piano has resided in as to
the ease of taking these things apart.

Gaskets -- I prefer leather and have dies to cut the leather that I had
made just for Coinola and Reproduco gaskets.  I am looking at three of
them to restore and just finished one.  I had to have the top fiber
pieces made with the threaded hole for the brass piece.  It's 5/8-40
thread if anyone wants to know.

I made a tool to crimp the poppet wires but I would strongly recommend
you just pop them out the slot.  You can cut a felt washer with a slit
and glue it back with Super Glue.  It has to be really thin cloth, by
the way.

Valve travel is pretty tight at .028" to .030".  Measure the inside
span of the original pneumatic carefully as you will have to match it
perfectly.  I made a little holder that holds it at 5/8-inch inside
span.

A felt stopper has to go back inside the pneumatic.  I use cotton cloth
on these instead of nylon with hot hide glue.  Make a test jig that
holds the pneumatic so you can set valve travel as well as make sure
it's airtight.

Don Teach
Shreveport, Louisiana