[pianotech] hammer flange notch

[Scott Nelson]

Hi Steven,
 
The notch you are describing probably is where a pin is inserted to fix the flange position. You will find this on Bosendorfers, Bechsteins, older Estonias, and likely some other European brands with the Renner shank & flange. I don't really see the point in installing them, since the screw holds down the flange anyway (and hopefully some type of sandpaper is on the hammer rail).
 
The problem with the pin is if the shank and flange are not parallel to each other and/or if the screw drilling is less than ideal. With the flange pinned in place to the rail and the hammer in the correct position under the strings, any non-parallelism of the two parts will inevitably result in inconsistent spacing between the shanks, which will lead to compromises in the whippen spacing, etc. If the drilling for the flange screw is off considerably, or, (more likely) the shank and flange are at an angle to each other, the flange screw hole occasionally may need to be enlarged with a hand reamer or core drill, allowing you some play to set the hammer in the right place at least.
 
All in all, it seems like a great deal of work for often less than ideal results. Most Renner actions don't have these pins, but the flanges have the notch as you describe for use when manufacturers want to include them. I would order the appropriate shank/ flanges from Renner and forget about the whole business with the pin.
 
Best regards,
 
Scott Nelson

--- On Tue, 12/2/08, Steven Hopp <hoppsmusic at hotmail.com> wrote:

From: Steven Hopp <hoppsmusic at hotmail.com>
Subject: [pianotech] hammer flange notch
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Date: Tuesday, December 2, 2008, 10:47 PM




#yiv563845107 .hmmessage P
{
margin:0px;padding:0px;}
#yiv563845107 {
font-size:10pt;font-family:Verdana;}

Hello,
 
I am replacing a set of hammers on a Baldwin 7' Grand.  The hammer flanges have a v-shaped notch in them.  Is this notch imperative to the action?  I am not sure of its function as there is nothing that it attaches to. What would be a good replacement shank for this situation?  
 
Thanks

 



Send e-mail faster without improving your typing skills. Get your Hotmail® account. 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20081203/a0f5a0d6/attachment.html>