-----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org]On Behalf Of Andreas Risberg Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 9:30 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Urgent need of help with three technical terms Fellow colleagues, I am new to the list and Im in urgent need of help. Currently Im working on translating a pt textbook from Norwegian into English. There are a few technical terms that I dont know in English. I hope someone will be able to help me. The first term is the down-bearing pressure that the strings exert on the bridge. Is there a common name for it in English? The second term is only applicable in uprights. When the hammer touches the strings, theres a small difference between the distance from the strings to the shank, just beneath the hammerhead, and the distance from the strings to the shank down at the butt. Directly translated from Norwegian to English it would be called Hammer Fall Angle. Ironically, although its called an angle its expressed in mm instead of degrees since its the difference between two distances. What is the English name? The third term is the name of the surfaces, areas, fields or sections on the pinblock where there are tuning pins. All the tuning pins will typically be grouped into 4, 5 or 6 fields. What is the name for this? Any help will be deeply appreciated! Many thanks in advance, Andreas Risberg _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/ "Down-bearing pressure" is the only term I've ever heard. (Downbearing itself is the actual angle from the bridge to the hitch pin). As for "hammer fall angle," I think that's what we usually call "overstriking" or "understriking," since if the bore length (bore distance) of the hammer isn't exactly equal to the distance from the strings to the center of the shank, the hammer will hit the strings slightly above or below the center line of the hammer molding (British, "moulding"). The preceding assumes that the hammer is at 90 degrees to the string when it contacts the string. If it's not, the hammers are said to have some "rake," which can range from nothing to as much as 5 degrees, depending on the piano. I think I measured 7 or 8 degrees once, which was extreme, in an old Steinway upright. When new hammers are hung, they are usually made to understrike a bit, to allow for future hammer filing. This distance I would say is less than 3 mm or so. The areas of the pinblock where groups of tuning pins are located are usually called the tuning pin "field(s)," just as you had it. Many uprights have only two, the bass and the treble. I don't know if I've ever seen six, but maybe I haven't paid attention. Your English is impeccable. Few Americans know even one word of Norwegian, but then the most common foreign languages taught in schools here are Spanish, French, and German. --David Nereson (a Norwegian name), RPT
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