repinning a Baldwin Hamilton

[John Formsma]

On Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 9:50 AM, Barbara Richmond <piano57 at comcast.net>wrote:

>  Howdy,
>
> I've been asked to improve the heavy, sluggish, mushy touch on a Baldwin
> Hamilton upright (Church piano--the finish matches the pews).  On a previous
> visit, I tried shrinking a few centers, but the results weren't good.  This
> time I repinned a couple hammer butts which made a very positive change in
> the touch.  Because I was pressed for time, I was reluctant to pull the
> action to check out the wippens and dampers.  I guess I could just include
> repinning them all in the estimate and if I don't have to do them, make the
> adjustment.  But...I was wondering if anybody out there has done many of
> these jobs and if so, did you have to do the dampers flanges?  (bleh)
> Surprisingly, the dampers are in pretty good regulation--spoons and the
> damper lift rod, so I'd rather not fool with them.
>
> I think I'll get some of those thinner Crescendo punchings for the front
> rail, since the punchings there now are the squishiest I've ever
> encountered.
>
> If there's anything else (beside lighting a match) you can think of, or you
> have found, that can make these pianos lovable, please let me know.  :-)
>
>

Barbara,

I recently did this very job on a 1997 Hamilton (or 243?). This one had
issues with sluggishness for several years. I finally gave them the only
solution that would ultimately work: complete action disassembly, checking
and correcting friction on each hammer, whippen, and jack center; sanding
whippen felts; applying teflon powder to hammer butts, etc.; and regulation.
 I would have preferred a less costly solution for them, but it was the only
way I could actually solve the problem.

Mine responded well to water/alcohol sizing.  I disassembled every action
part except for damper flanges, which were fine.  Checked friction, and
applied either 10%, 25%, 35%, or 50% solution depending on the friction
there. Some repinning was needed as well, mainly because the sizing solution
worked too well on a few. (Or, that I was too aggressive due to my lack of
experience in choosing which % solution to use.)

During regulation, it became apparent that the balance rail bushings needed
replacement.  Cupped bushings were causing significant repetition problems.
I used VS Profelt and cauls on the front rail bushings to renew the felt
there, which worked very well.

After regulation, it still has some problems with key weighting.  But it
plays much better than before -- just a heavier touch than I like. I'm
waiting to make sure the work is satisfactory - I told the church to play it
for 2-3 weeks to make SURE everything was to their satisfaction.  I should
know by next week if everything is good.

I suppose I can always trim the balance rail felts (toward the player) to
help slightly with the heavy touch.

In all, I worked several more hours that I'd originally estimated.  However,
I still feel like a learner in this realm, so it was great experience.  And
I was paid well for "learning." Gotta love that!

Hope this helps.

-- 
JF
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