Urgent need of help with three technical terms

David Skolnik davidskolnik at optonline.net
Wed Nov 29 07:52:04 MST 2006


Andreas -

My first thought was to suggest that you try impersonating a German 
engineer, and come up with a lengthy, un-hyphenated word that 
describes exactly what it is and what it does.  Something like: 
uprighthammershankstrikedistancedifferentialanglunginn.  I thought a 
bit more about it and concluded that, it is a spec that would 
probably be infrequently applied by either general technician (unless 
one was redesigning an action), but, even if I'm wrong about that, 
its applicability to action response presupposes that the string 
plane itself is perpendicular, both by design and in situ  (ie. is 
the floor level?).  In theory, that angle, or those distances could 
be altered to have no effect on repetition and touch or significant 
effect.  In fact, it seems as though it might be possible to achieve 
a range of touch regulation by altering the  caster heights, front to 
back.  The angle, in relation to true perpendicular would be 
relevant, and worthy of a name, like upright hammershank offset 
angle, or something. I can also envision a relatively simple tool 
that could provide a direct angle reading.
Good thing we have springs!

Looking forward to the book.

David Skolnik

At 11:29 PM 11/28/2006, Andrea Reisberg wrote:
>Fellow colleagues,
>
>The second term is only applicable in uprights. When the hammer 
>touches the strings, there's 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 it's called an angle it's expressed in 
>mm instead of degrees since it's the difference between two 
>distances. What is the English name?
and:
>It is rather the angle between the shaft and the strings at impact. 
>This has to do with balance; if only gravity were the acting force, 
>a relatively heavy bass hammer balancing against a light butt and 
>back stop wouldn't be as inclined to returning to its starting 
>position as a light treble hammer balancing against the butt and 
>back stop. This measurement is something you would check when 
>reinstalling the action if you have removed the keybed and the 
>action bracket bolts during a rebuild. If this angle or measurement 
>is too small, repetition will be slow or lost, and if it is too big 
>the touch will be very heavy.




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