Springing a short action arm

[richard]

Hello

 

I am trying to lighten the pressure on a button with a very short arm. I only made it worse, it doesn't close now and the reed is a constant sound.

And I didn't even lessen the spring pressure.

 

I am such an amateur.

 

Does anybody have advice for working with a very short arm?

 

Thanks,

 

Richard

[malcolmbebb]

I am such an amateur.

 

Being an amateur does not imply that you are no good at something - be careful of that route - lots of amateurs are very very good at what they do, they just don't do it for a living.

 

Perhaps substitute "beginner" - you are on a learning process.

 

 

A photo and description of the box might be helpful.

[richard]

Hi Malcolm

 

I am not a beginner either so what does that make me? FLUSTERED...

 

I didn't mean to insult amateurs it's just that I left the situation worse than when I found it.

 

I think the spring is caught up on the rivet part. But I just thought I'd fish around for useful general advice about the short arms. They are tricky.

 

Thanks,

 

Richard

[Geoff Wooff]

Richard,

as you say these short levers can be tricky things to get the spring adjustment "Just Right".

 

Things to look for are;

 

that the location part of the spring is at such an angle as to keep the lower arm of the spring close to the wooden base.

 

Perhaps you can bend the spring slightly sideways so the the upper arm does not foul the rivet.

 

Check that the lever hook end of the spring then sits around the lever at 90° to the lever axis... so it imparts no sideways movement or causes extra friction at the point of contact.

 

If the hook end of the spring is too near the button it can jamb against it and if it is too near the pivot it will be less effective.

 

An ideal situation is when the hook end of the spring does the least amount of sliding along the lever arm during up and down motion of the button.

 

I hope that some of this is helpfull.

 

Geoff.

[Chris Ghent]

Don't ask anyone about your "short arm" issues in Australia...

[david robertson]

Hello

 

I am trying to lighten the pressure on a button with a very short arm. I only made it worse, it doesn't close now and the reed is a constant sound.

And I didn't even lessen the spring pressure.

 

I am such an amateur.

 

Does anybody have advice for working with a very short arm?

 

Thanks,

 

Richard

Those very short levers can be a royal pain in the fillings. Often the problem is a lack of space for the lower arm of the spring, in which case it may be necessary to shorten it. Snip it off at an angle to make a sharp point, and bend a new spike. In an ideal world, you want the upper arm (or at least the last part of it) to end up parallel with the lever, so it may be necessary to put two small bends in it, first one way then the other. When fixing a new spring, it's best not to use the hole that the old one occupied - it will almost certainly be too loose and allow the new spring to move. Assess the required position of the new hole, and use a bradawl or some such to make a "starter hole". Now you need a special tool to press the spike of the new spring into place. I use an old, small screwdriver with a V-shaped notch filed into the blade - works a treat.

[d.elliott]

Don't ask anyone about your "short arm" issues in Australia...

 

Please elucidate????

[Chris Ghent]

i think I have said enough..!

[richard]

Hello friends

 

Thanks for your advice. After many attempts I have finally fixed the problem. Which means I got the button and spring working as they were before I screwed it up. I still want to lighten the pressure a bit more but sometimes pleasure is the absence of pain.I'll leave it as it is for now.

 

I ended up bending around the top hooked part of the spring and also the bottom part that lies on against the board so the hook wouldn't be up against the button and so the spring wouldn't interfere with the pivot.

 

And, no hard feelings about all the short-arm comments.

 

Thanks

 

Richard