[CAUT] F..riction

Don Mannino dmannino at kawaius.com
Tue Nov 30 15:03:02 MST 2010


David Love wrote:


I think there are a couple of issues with flange friction that is too low.  The issue I'm referring to is the loss of connection that can occur after the key stroke is initiated.

Can this not also be a matter of ratio and mass?  When there is a high effort in starting the parts in motion, the parts tend to fly along out of control once they are moving - and the pianist feels disconnected.  While adding friction can be one way of returning control to the system, lowering mass and/or 'slowing' the ratio will give the same effect while retaining low friction.  In some actions this really does feel nice, and gives excellent pianissimo control.

I see this as a kind of balancing act between all the variables, and when setting up action we have to try to account for all of these factors, especially friction and mass.  But I agree that in many circumstances your solution is the best - pinning the hammer flanges with a little higher friction can definitely improve both tone and touch.

As for why we are seeing pinning friction so low, I don't think it's necessarily done for  performance reasons, to give a specific type of touch response.  Action makers want the action to work reliably no matter where in the world it is being used, and pinning with low friction simply reduces complaints of tight parts!  Even though they end up too loose in some climates this kind of variation when shipping worldwide is unavoidable.  But when we are pinning for a specific location, we can set the friction correctly.

Don Mannino
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