[pianotech] flanges on the move

[Joe And Penny Goss]

Hi things you might consider,
Watch how the player uses the pedal. Is there enough time for the shifting to happen without the hammer blow being part of the problem?
Space hammers with screw semi tight and then tighten fully after spacing has been done.
Adding thin 320 sandpaper to the rail under the flanges.
Joe Goss RPT
Mother Goose Tools
imatunr at srvinet.com
www.mothergoosetools.com
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Shawn Brock 
  To: Pianotech List 
  Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2008 11:47 PM
  Subject: [pianotech] flanges on the move


  List,

  call me an amateur but this is one problem I have yet to come up with a fix for.  I have a client who has an early/mid 80s Schimmel grand in superb condition.  It was not played much at all before he bought it about 3 years ago.  He is quite the player so I see him regularly for tuning and the normal repairs.  The problem is this, hammer flanges that won't stay put!  On 3 different occasions he has called me to come out because when he uses the shift and sustain together he will have 1 hammer striking 2 unisons.  I always check for these kind of things during regular appointments and have not found any spacing issues.  Sure enough though he will have something out of line when he calls and I'll go fix it and he will be fine for about 3 months and then...  He wanted a tuning last week and that time I found yet another hammer flange that was to far to the right.  I took care of that and made sure no more were in the same condition.  I really took my time inspecting things!  So this morning I get an email saying things were fine until yesterday when he found yet a different hammer striking 2 unisons.  This problem is only occurring in the tenor and I have a few potential fixes but wanted to see what some of you thought.  Keep in mind he knows this hammer was not striking 2 unisons before yesterday, he knows this because he has been working on the same peace of music for the last 4 days.  I have checked the screws and they all seem to be tight.  Could it be that someone before used one of those flange spacing tools?  I liked those for a while but now wonder if they do more harm than good.  It seems like they put to much strain on the flange and could cause the screw hole to become misshapen.  So what do you think?  I hope that you have read this entire message before responding.  

  Regards,
  Shawn Brock, RPT
  513-316-0563
  www.shawnbrock.com
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