Bearing Heads, I have been following this topic with a little amusement. Years ago a fellow tech lent me his newest gadget, the lowell Bearing gauge. I gave it a try but it was no more useful or accurate than the simple tools I had been using. I returned the tool. When the tech asked my opinion I said something noncommittal but polite, I didn't have the heart to tell him he just wasted $100. Keep your bubble gauges I will stick to this e simple method I learned from a friend that worked at the Steinway factory. It's accurate, fast and cheap and has been around forever. Any straight grained hardwood will due, I like maple or cheery. Make them in several lengths for each section of the tenor and treble. I Use the same metal stacking gauges I use when setting the bearing with the strings. If you must have angular deflections you simple look it up on a chart. Since it reads the bearing in the same way I set bearing it gives me fast and comprehensible feed back. It is interesting to see the fluctuation due to changes in environmental RH. [link redacted at request of site owner - Jul 25, 2015] [link redacted at request of site owner - Jul 25, 2015] John Hartman RPT John Hartman Pianos [link redacted at request of site owner - Jul 25, 2015] Rebuilding Steinway and Mason & Hamlin Grand Pianos Since 1979 Piano Technicians Journal Journal Illustrator/Contributing Editor [link redacted at request of site owner - Jul 25, 2015] John Hartman The Universal, How-to, Hands-on Illustrator [link redacted at request of site owner - Jul 25, 2015]
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC