Hi All, David.... all good points... I agree that the capstan/heel contact point is not a high friction area if the action is set up properly and the contact point passes through the magic line.. I've been using hard anodized capstans since the early 1990's and looking at the heel felt of these actions that have been in use for 16 years I see NO tarnish as would be expected with brass... The felt looks brand new with a little compacting as would be expected. so I think the non tarnishing effect is a BIG PERK. I expect that when tarnish gets into the felt it accelerates the wear over time. The non tarnish effect is even more of a positive perk with hard anodized key pins.. they completely eliminate the need to lubricate key bushings and I expect the life of key bushings to be at least doubled and maybe tripled over time...maybe even more than triple... this could be a really big cost saver and quality keeper especially in Colleges and Universities.... time will tell... David Stanwood >They are lighter and they don't tarnish, all good things. <snip> >Since I'm graphing balance weight, friction UW, DW on every action >rebuild I do get a chance to see these numbers and admittedly didn't >see that much , if any , difference in the numbers on this action >compared to any other I've done with the brass capstans in terms of >friction readings, at least that could be traced to the capstan. I >just don't find it to be that high an area of friction generally >unless there's some real problem with the felt on the wippen heel or >perhaps some serious corrosion on the top of the capstan. <snip> > >David Love >www.davidlovepianos.com
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC