At 07:18 AM 8/2/2002 -0700, you wrote: >Dear Fellow Techs, > The University here has an 1896 Steinway B in >which someone installed a Teflon (TM) action back in >the 60's. It is all gummed up and otherwise does not >work properly, making the piano unplayable. I have a >barely used, excellent condition set of regular parts >to replace them, and am trying to convince University >officials of the value of the labor involved, >including a hammer filing, thorough action regulation >and replacements of the backchecks. Your comments on >what this amount of work is worth would be most >appreciated, and I will be showing these comments to >the aforementioned parties. I am a meticulous, careful >technician with 25 years experience. > Most Sincerely, > Gordon Lee Stelter If the centers are tight, repin. What is the reason for the stiffness? This action should work if the friction is tended to. If the hammers, shanks & flanges are 40 years old in an institutional setting then replace with new material unless the salvaged parts meet the criteria below and budget constraints prevent new parts. As far as replacing the parts with salvaged parts, there are a few consideration: Knuckle radius (distance from center pin), Knuckle Size as well. Shank Length (distance from hammer center pin to hammer molding center) Hammer Bore (length of hammer, center of shank to hammer tip) Shank Length and Hammer Bore are of paramount consideration. Calculate what the bore should be: String Height minus Hammer Center Height Don't forget, the number of bass notes. The A's thru D's have 20 note basses while the S, M, L have 26. The thing to do first would be to fit a few parts on and see if they regulate. Regards, Jon Page, piano technician Harwich Port, Cape Cod, Mass. mailto:jonpage@attbi.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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