What holds a button upright?

[jonnymickey]

The left hand 10 button on my metal ended Crabb has started to fall over from time to time ie it sits off vertical to the end plate and partially depressed with the result that the reed sounds continuously due to the pad being held up. Its mostly my fault in that I tend to press that key at an angle due to the shape of my hand. Its fairly easy to wiggle it back upright which solves the problem for a day or two but I would like a more permanent solution. I can manage plenty of spurious notes all by myself without any more!

 

Looking at it it seems to me that the only thing keeping the key vertical is the felt bushing. Am I correct? If so where can I get replacement bushes. I have David Elliott's book & it looks to be within my capabilities.

 

 

 

[Sohcahtoa]

Can you see a narrow "pin" type base on the bottom of the key? It should be fitting inside a small hole in the action pan. That, along with the felt bushing, its what keeps the buttons mostly aligned. 

[Frank Edgley]

Possible reasons for the guide pin on the button not being in the guide hole1) The pad has compressed over the year so the button goes higher causing the button to pop out of the hole; 2) the hole itself has worn away causing a hole that is too large to hole the button upright; # the mechanism arm has been bent due to a fall etc; The solutions would be to rectify the cause(s) as described i.e. new pad; fill the hole with epoxy and re-drill; straighten the arm.

[d.elliott]

Often the key's guide pin has snapped off, or if the key is riding higher than the others, the pivot post may have worked loose.

[jonnymickey]

I just thought I would provide a little feedback. 

The problem was the hole for the felt bushing which was oval. I finally managed to source some 0.85 felt, refilled the hole and re drilled it carefully reaming it out with wet and dry glued to a drill shank. It’s not tapered but I managed the taper by eye and wiggling the drill. Refelted it and reassembled. 
 

So far everything is good so I can get back to practice!

 

john

[Chris Ghent]

If the bushed hole in the end was oval the button still should not be able to fall over.  The only thing that will allow that is the pin at the bottom of the button being out of its hole at rest. To check this look along the buttons to see if that button is higher than the rest. If not, check if it is not a replacement button which is slightly shorter. If so bend the lever until the pin is in the hole and look for a better button. 

 

If the button is proud of the others it could be because the pad has compressed over time, or the hole in the lever for the rivet is elongated vertically (push down on the lever at the post and see if it moves downwards) or because the post is coming out of the actionboard. If the latter pull the post right out and put it back in with gel superglue and with a sliver of wood. In the old days you would have said with a shaving off a matchstick but who has one of them these days. 

[DaveRo]

9 hours ago, Chris Ghent said:

...the pin at the bottom of the button being out of its hole at rest

I had this problem with my secondhand CC Peacock. The picture shows the pin out of the hole. I fixed it (after emailing CC for advice) by bending the lever - which was difficult with a pair of pliers in each hand: the brass is tough. The geometry is complicated by it being a curved lever (top F#) so the pad doesn't drop 'vertically' on the hole and doesn't always land on exactly same spot, which I think may be one cause of the problem. I expect my tendency, as a beginner, to mis-hit the button and push it sideways also contributes!

 

I suspect I'll have to do this again: the button is already slightly higher on the outside, though it doesn't fall over yet.