[pianotech] Steinway L rebuild question

[Joe DeFazio]

Hi Terry,

The first thing I would do is to double-check the hammer bore  
distance.  Perhaps you already did that.  But if you didn't:

Measure the string heights (each section), and measure the hammer  
flange height (above the keybed).  For each section, subtract the  
flange height from the string height.  This will give a bore distance  
(from the tip of the hammer to the center of the shank hole) that  
should yield a hammer perpendicular to the string (shank parallel to  
the string) at contact.  It is common to add a few millimeters to this  
distance before drilling, to compensate for filing/wear down the  
road.  However, if the measured bore distance is more than a few  
millimeters greater than the calculated (string minus flange)  
distance, then the hammers were most likely bored too long.  It's not  
that hard to plug and redrill, if this turns out to be the case.

Good luck,

Joe DeFazio
Pittsburgh

On Jul 24, 2009, at 5:13 PM, pianotech-request at ptg.org wrote:

> From: pianolover 88 <pianolover88 at hotmail.com>
> Date: July 24, 2009 5:07:57 PM EDT
> To: <pianotech at ptg.org>
> Subject: [pianotech] Steinway L rebuild question
> Reply-To: pianotech at ptg.org
>
>
> Hello all,
>
> I'm rebuilding a Steinway L, circa 1962, and I just finished  
> replacing all the wipps, hammers, shanks, flanges. All these parts  
> are Tokiwa, and I must say I'm pretty happy with the quality and  
> fit. For the hammers I went with abel encore naturals, since I've  
> used these before on S&S and was very pleased, I did the same here.
>
> My question has to do with regulating strike distance to 1 3/4". As  
> we know, many pianos have an adjustable rebound rail. We also know  
> that Steinway does NOT. Each reboundcushion is part of the wippen,  
> and does not have a separate up/down adjustment. The reason I bring  
> this up, is that now with all new action parts in place, I find that  
> I must lower the hammers all the way down, firmlyresting on the  
> cushions, but that still only yields about 1.5" strike distance. I  
> did bench regulate about a half an octave just to see how it  
> responded at the shortened SD, and it seemed perfectly fine, but I'd  
> like to get it to proper specs.
>
> I realize that new parts need breaking in, and the new knuckles will  
> also compress. I tried compressing a few of the cushions by pressing  
> down on them for about 10 seconds, and that put me almost to 1 3/4",  
> but they will likely puff up again. So I placed a box of jiffy  
> weights along the tops (see pic) of a few of them, and if I leave  
> for a day or so, do you think this will compress them enough to  
> allow for proper strike distance, and possible even enough to  
> actually get the shanks at least a bit off the cushions? Or is this  
> not a good idea?
>
> Thanks in advance for any help on this issue.
>
> Cheers!
>
> Terry Peterson
> Accurate Piano Service

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