Los Angeles Chapter
October Meeting: (3rd Monday)
Date: Monday, October 19, 2020
Time: 6:00
pm (Pacific Time)
Location: Via Zoom
In our last meeting, Kayoko Forrest, Scott Reitz, Eric Rautenburg, Adrian Carcione and Tom Michaels joined Isaac Sadigursky in his home garage/shop to discuss how technicians can efficiently organize their tools. The presentation, which was originally slated to be given at the national PTG convention, examined the use of kits: tools packaged together in groups aimed at completing a specific task. A kit for string replacement contained piano wire, coil setter, multiple T handles, multiple vise grips and clamps and a selection of other tools to give a technician everything needed to repair a broken string. Kits were displayed for safety inspections, cabinet repair, upright pedal repair, grand pedal repair and many, many more.
This method requires a lot of duplicate tools, but Sadigursky argues that the time saved is worth it. No matter where he's working, he can quickly set up a workstation and know that he won't have to run back out to his van, or back into his shop, to find what he needs to complete a repair.
Other tips and tricks were embedded in Isaac’s demonstration of many of the kits. Techniques included using magnets to prevent screws from exploding when dropped or spilled, using dummy tuning pins to keep piano string from going haywire and color coding pouches and other containers so they can be found quickly as a technician's collection of tool kits grows.
This meeting was broadcast over Zoom as part of the Boston Chapter's meeting and will be shared with the Chicago Chapter in the near future.
Our next meeting on October 19 will feature Jason Cassell. Cassell currently serves as a piano technician for the Brigham Young University School of Music. Before accepting this position he graduated with a MA in Piano Technology from Florida State University, a distinction shared by only a dozen technicians in the nation. Cassell will discuss various aspects of in-home service, focusing on selling more work per visit.
Join Zoom Meeting -
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9015278420
Meeting ID: 901 527 8420