[ Troy Taylor wrote to Don Teach --

> I have just (barely) finished gluing in all the leather pouches in
> my Reproduco pneumatics.  Since there is no feasible or practical
> way to adjust the dish after they are all assembled and recovered
> with new pneumatic cloth, how do I make sure they are correctly
> dished before I reassemble everything?

How to set valves in a Coinola or other player.  The valve travel
varies depending on the type of leather used on the facing of valves.
As a generalization, the thicker the leather the more travel.  A big
point in this post is how I glue the leather on the valve itself.

If you place a valve in your pneumatic with the pouch installed and the
valve stem holds the valve off the lower seat, then you do not have the
pouch dished enough.  I use leather for the Coinola pouches and seal
with rubber cement or PVC glues thinned with water.

I made a test stand for the pneumatic so I can test each one before
I put it in the piano.  I punch a new fiber disc for the pouch out of
a fiber folder material I found at Office Depot for the pouch disc.
It is rather thin.  I also punched new fiber discs for the valves out
of an old fiber drum case.

I cover the valve with smooth pouch leather on both sides, gluing only
the edges so the valve when seated can pull the leather down to the
seat.  Gluing the leather around only the edge of the valve disc is
very important.

The valve travel is set by putting the unit on the test stand and
adjusting the valve to travel with little or no hiss.  The travel is
about .031 inch or a little more.  I am assuming you have the top seats
that are a red fiber with the adjustable top seat.  In the other style,
with the top seat made of Bakelite, then you have to use paper blotter
rings to set this distance.

Don Teach
Shreveport, Louisiana