Touch weight

[Newton Hunt]

Are these the original parts?  If they are you may well have a
friction problem.  Use the best metal polish you can find and polish
the key pins, front and center, polish the tops of the capstans and
make sure the center pins are all free as they should be.

If the hammers have been changed then you likely have hammer to heavy
for that action.  Either reduce the weight of the hammers or install
lighter hammers.

Up weight is measured by placing a likely weight on the key, pressing
the key down to let-off and using your fist hit the action lightly to
break the static friction of the action parts.  If the hammer raises
fast there is too little weight.  If it does not raise at all the
weight is too high.  The hammer should rise slowly but steadily.  When
you measure the down weight you do the same except you will measure
from rest to let-off, not past, with the hammer going up at the same
rate as in down weight.

)Down weight plus up weight) divided by two will give you balance
weight which should be in the 35 to 40 range.  

(Down weight minus up weight) divided by two gives you the friction
for that key.  It should be in the 12 range in the bass to about 7 in
the treble.  Higher numbers indicate too much friction or a major
action geometry problem which should be addressed before changing the
key weight.

If this action has wippen helper springs their tension can be
increased slightly to help but there is a limit to how much they can
help.

Weights should not be pounded into the keys, they should be pressed in
with a drill press or an arbor press.  This helps prevent splitting.

The lead weights with two holes in them we call "Jiffy Leads" which
means 'fast leads'  They are a bit on the heavy side and certainly
will increase the inertia of the action which can cause the pianist
problems.  They can be screwed to the bottom of the keys with very
tiny and short screws.  I use much shorter screws than those that come
with the weights.  Place some weights on top of a few keys to see how
they feel before committing to screwing them on.  Up weight, down
weight and friction have to be taken into account every step along the
way.

It is very unlikely this action was made heavy by the factory so look
at the situation carefully before running off and making changes.