S&S D with high strings/low action stack

[David Love]

You can see for yourself that the hammers are bored too short given the
specs you gave.  It seems that the plate is a too high.  The standard
factory bore for those hammers is 2 3/16" in the bass and 1 15/16" in the
treble.  On your piano they would need to be longer than that (2 5/16" in
the bass and ranging from 2 1/4 to 2 1/8 in the tenor/treble depending on
the section.  Yours are shorter than the factory bore specs.  

Your hammers are indeed overcentering.  If you were to replace the hammers
and use NY Steinway hammers, boring them to that length you would have a
problem with too short tail length unless you extended them.  How the rest
of the action is setting up you will have to check, but I would guess that
the geometry is not exactly optimized.  Since the piano is 4 years old you
have only 1 year left on the warranty so I would start there though I would
be conservative in my expectations and be prepared for suggesting a better
alternative than might be offered.  You might be better just putting on a
different hammer where the molding length is appropriate for the bore.
Maybe Abel Selects (Pianotek--not a bad choice for that piano btw) or Renner
Blues.  I would not start shimming the keybed or the stack, for that matter.
It's just too far to go.  (BTW, the spread should be 4 3/8 for NY parts and
4 7/16" for Renner--I'm pretty sure).  

David Love
davidlovepianos at comcast.net 
www.davidlovepianos.com

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Andrew and Rebeca Anderson
Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 6:21 PM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Re: S&S D with high strings/low action stack

Listees,
Here are the numbers I obtained from the D in question this morning:
	keys to fall-board felt 5/32 each end 1/8 in the middle
	action spread (whippen flange pin to hammer flange pin) wrote 4&3/8"
		(remember 4&3/4" will have to check that again if the other
is crazy)
	Hammer Bore: is that from the top of felt to center of hammer shank?
	Bottom of bass 2&1/8"	top of first & second tenor break 1&7/8" ,
top 
of first treble break 1&13/16" top 1&3/4"
	string height above key-bed same places as hammer measurements
	8&1/16"  --  7&7/8"  --  8"  --  7&15/16"  --  7&7/8"
	hammer flange pin height off of key-bed (measured on floor with back

end of key-frame down to the floor) 5&3/4"
	drop screws (back out fully up) to stretcher/pinblock 3/16"

It looks like the hammers are overstriking approx. 3/16"  to 3/8" of 
an inch.  After looking at the treble hammers I'd say they have been 
filed before I polished them with high grit.

So, would 3/4" wide veneer strips to 1/8" thick under the front and 
back rails of the keyframe be too radical?  Perhaps another 1/16" 
shimming the action stack braclets?

Andrew Anderson

BTW regarding my voicing question.  It helps to regulate before 
voicing.  You discover and fix loose pinning and now I can't find the 
dead notes anymore. :-)