[CAUT] Baldwin specs

[Wolfley, Eric (wolfleel)]

Alan,
Check both extreme hammers...sometimes it's 4 7/8" at one end and 5" at the
other. By changing to 5 1/8" you are then able to move the stack 1/8"
towards the keyboard and retain the correct strikepoint. You'll need new
S&F's to do this. You need to chisel 1/8" off of the bass and treble
shoes...do it precisely and it will be good for accurate positioning when
drilling new holes for the action brackets. Plug all the old holes with
side-grained maple plugs. After you reposition the stack you can look at the
capstan placement. Most of these Baldwins have around a .58 key ratio. By
moving the capstan line you can improve this to about .52 without having to
change the wipp heels and compliance with the magic line is good. By doing
all this you usually end up with an action ratio of 5.5 or so, keydip .400",
blow 1 3/4", and you can usually reduce the frontweights by a significant
amount. I've done these adaptations as a part of a Stanwood Precision Touch
Design to a number of pianos in the practice rooms here and so far it's been
a win-win situation. The students really like these actions.

Eric

Eric Wolfley, RPT
Supervising Piano Technician
College-Conservatory of Music
University of Cincinnati


-----Original Message-----
From: Alan McCoy [mailto:amccoy@mail.ewu.edu] 
Sent: Monday, June 20, 2005 5:00 PM
To: College and University Technicians <caut@ptg.org>
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Baldwin specs

Hey Eric,

OK. The jack angle is actually begging for the spread to be moved out a bit,
which would be more toward spec. The hammer line is 5" as you suspected (and
knuckles are at 17mm). So what kind of magic are you working on these
actions with the too-short hammerline? This one needs hammers this summer
anyway, so assuming I can bribe well enough for some parts money, it'll get
done. 

Alan


> From: "Wolfley, Eric (wolfleel)" <WOLFLEEL@UCMAIL.UC.EDU>
> Reply-To: "College and University Technicians <caut@ptg.org>"
<caut@ptg.org>
> Date: Wed, 08 Jun 2005 16:37:42 -0400
> To: 'College and University Technicians' <caut@ptg.org>
> Subject: RE: [CAUT] Baldwin specs
> 
> Alan,
> 
> The factory spec for spread is 4 27/64". You can move this around a little
> but need to keep an eye on the jack angle under the knuckle. Check the
shank
> length from the flange center to the center of the hammer molding. It
should
> be 5 1/8". We have a lot of those pianos here and I have found most of
them
> to have 5" or even 4 7/8" shank lengths. If this is the case, let me know
> and I'll tell you what I've been doing to drastically improve these
actions.
> 
> Eric Wolfley, RPT
> Supervising Piano Technician
> College-Conservatory of Music
> University of Cincinnati
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alan McCoy [mailto:amccoy@mail.ewu.edu]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2005 4:04 PM
> To: CAUTlist
> Subject: [CAUT] Baldwin specs
> 
> Hi Folks,
> 
> I'm working on a 1970 Baldwin L. Anyone know what action spread these
babies
> work well with? This one has a consistent 4.40" spread. Capstans are
> centered under the wip cushions, but with the keys at rest the contact
point
> is on or very slightly above the line of convergence. Key ratio is
> 0.55-0.56. 
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> Alan
> 
> 
> -- Alan McCoy, RPT
> Eastern Washington University
> amccoy@mail.ewu.edu
> 509-359-4627
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
> _______________________________________________
> caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives


_______________________________________________
caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives