Rail Cloth

[John Musselwhite]

>        Who would believe the infinite details that experienced technicians
>can disagree on! If you have tried it without using hammer rail cloth, and

Indeed...
>1.)     Although the majority of S&S actions leave the factory with hammer
>rail cloth, it is not true that they all have, or always did. We have a D
>here, for example, from 1964 with original parts (until last year) that had
>no rail cloth, and I have also seen others.

I've seen a few grands from that era with no leather on the knuckles either,
just the felt roll. Does that make it right?

>2.)     After a year or so under the flanges, do you really think that this
>thin felt as any cushion left in it? The ones I see are hard.

As hard as the brass? Might it be possible the cloth may prevent a slight
vibration or resonance of the brass rail under some circumstances?

[deleted]

>6.)     The new flanges from Renner now fit even better.

Can't say about that... I've never installed them except when they've been
shipped from NY I suppose...

>7.)     Because not doing it saves at least 30 seconds.

The reason I put it there is because the factory specs call for it to be
there. Normally I don't take all the hammers off at once anyway, so I just
leave the original cloth if it and the rail in good shape.

When I service a Steinway for a customer one of the ways I sell a major job
is by emphasising the use of Steinway parts and techniques. While other
parts may be more suitable either for technical or personal preference many
of my customers have insisted on "original equipment parts" and sometimes
even want the end-flaps off the new cartons and samples of the original parts.

While replacing the damper back-action, hammers etc. with Renners may be
practical, I've run into more than a few owners to whom NY factory parts are
what makes it a "Steinway".

                John

John Musselwhite, RPT               Calgary, Alberta Canada
musselj@cadvision.com       john.musselwhite@67.cambo.cuug.ab.ca