Hammer Shanks

[Jorgensen, Michael L]

Jim,
     IHMO some valid things we do in piano work probably don't make a measurable or detectable difference by themselves.  Consider the operation of polishing key pins:  If they are not bad to begin with and you polish them, I suspect there is no detectable difference in friction.  However when we polish everything, (capstans, rep springs, etc) a measurable difference results, where no one thing was very bad.  Could it be that not everything must be measurable to be valid?   Of course that leaves lots of room for instinct, intuition, fables, and art, which makes this fun.  
     Last time the harpsichord builder Keith Hill came to visit, he showed me how he tonks tuning pins to select ones that sound better. He believes that is important and  builds a great harpsichord.

Happy Thanksgiving
-Mike Jorgensen

> ----------
> From: 	James Ellis
> Reply To: 	College and University Technicians
> Sent: 	Tuesday, November 25, 2003 5:41 PM
> To: 	caut@ptg.org
> Subject: 	Hammer Shanks
> 
> Dear Colleagues:
> 
> This discussion of hammer shanks has really made the rounds.  When it
> started, the ides was that hex (sic) (octagonal) shanks sounded better
> because they were stiffer.  I showed that they are not stiffer, in fact,
> not as stiff as some round ones that are currently on the market.  The
> discussion then did an about face, and said that thinned shanks sounded
> better because they are not as stiff.  Now, the saying is that they make a
> difference in the tone, or that they produce more fundamental partials.  Do
> they really?  Someone show me that this is so.  Has anyone done an analysis
> to show this, or is it just someone's opinion?  I would really like to
> know.  Does anyone have a spectrum analysis?  Does anyone have a recording
> demonstrating this?  If so, let's see it.  Let's hear it.  If this is true,
> I would like to know it, and then I can go to work to see if I can figure
> out why it is.  Someone says, "why" does not matter.  All that matters is
> that it does it.  No, that's not enough.  We need to know why.  If there is
> one thing wrong with this profession, it is that there is too much guess-work.
> 
> Sincerely, Jim Ellis
> 
> 
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