Repetition Lever Height

[Dave Nereson]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gordon Holley" <gwholley@hi-techhousing.com>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, July 26, 2004 11:25 AM
Subject: Repetition Lever Height


List.  In regulating a grand with all new wippens, hammers and shanks, I'm
having a problem with determining
the correct dimension between the top of the jack and the top of the
repetition lever, in setting the repetition lever height.

On the back page of the March 2004 Journal, the Yamaha, Little Red
Schoolhouse, Step 18 of regulation, says that there should be
0.2 mm between the top of the jack and the top of the repetition lever.  And
yes, I've read all of the other info provided, but I'm surely not
that great at a tactile sensation with a finger to determine 0.2 mm.

And I don't know how to measure the 0.2mm with a gauge in the lever window.
I read some place that this thickness is about the same
as a business card, but that doesn't help.

Does anyone have a better, step-by-step procedure to follow to set the lever
height?

Many thanks in advance

Gordon Holley
Associate Member
Chapter 467, Indiana
Goshen, IN

    Yes, initially set the edge of the repetition lever window so that it's
just barely above the top of the jack.  With the tip of your finger, brush
it across the top of the jack and repetition lever and adjust it so that you
just barely feel the edge of the rep. lever above the tip of the jack.  (Put
a piece of paper down on the desk, and feel the edge of the paper above the
desk surface -- something like that).  To increase the "edge" or "lip" or
"gap", turn the adjusting button counter-clockwise; to decrease it, turn
clockwise.
     That'll get you close.  Then, with all the hammers in rest position
(sitting on the wippens), take your finger and flick the tail of the jack
(under the let-off button) and let go.  The hammer should dip, or "wink",
slightly and come back up.  The dip is usually about 1/16" or even less,
sometimes more -- I'd say an eighth is on the big side.  If the hammer
doesn't dip at all, turn the screw on the adjusting button clockwise until
it does.  If it dips quite a bit and stays down, that's too far -- turn it
counter-clockwise until it dips but comes back up.  Rather than trying to
get an exact hammer dip amount, try to get them all consistent with each
other.  It will vary with knuckle wear.  You can also lift neighboring
hammers to observe the jack and see that it's getting all the way back under
the knuckle, with the back edge of the jack in line with the back edge of
the wood knuckle core.
    --David Nereson, RPT