I have never leveled an upright with crown but if one did want to do this wouldn't it make more sense to start with a level keyboard and then just put some thin shims under the balance rail. Then you could put as much crown as you like and there would be a perfect graduation in key heights from middle to ends. On Sun, Jun 21, 2009 at 1:39 PM, Gerald Groot <tunerboy3 at comcast.net> wrote: > *It seems many of the private email replies that I have received state > mostly about 1mm but not more than 2mm crown. Some seem to prefer no > crown. Others like "some" crown. I've always preferred some crown myself > being the center of the keyboard receives the most use. * > > * * > > *Maybe you could measure yours once Ken, you too Bruce and anyone else > that also has an Everett wooden leveling board.. It would be very > interesting if we all had 2 mm gap in the center. I measured mine directly > under the middle of the word "Everett." * > > * * > > * * > > * * > > *From:* pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] *On > Behalf Of *Ken & Pat Gerler > *Sent:* Sunday, June 21, 2009 4:27 PM > *To:* pianotech at ptg.org > *Subject:* Re: [pianotech] Piano Key Leveling > > > > Gerald, > > I don't have any answers, BUT do have the same Everett wooden level board > and did note some similar concerns thinking it might have 'warped' some > since I got it. I have not set it on a level surface to confirm its accuracy > as you have. > > > Ken Gerler > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > *From:* Gerald Groot <tunerboy3 at comcast.net> > > *To:* pianotech at ptg.org > > *Sent:* Sunday, June 21, 2009 9:36 AM > > *Subject:* [pianotech] Piano Key Leveling > > > > *Hi List,* > > * * > > *I sent this question to several piano tech friends and then decided it > might be a good question to post in the tech list as well. * > > * * > > *I have a question or two. * > > * * > > *Many years ago, (I know several other techs that also use one of these) I > received a wooden level board from the old Everett Piano Factory in South > Haven Michigan with the name "Everett" stamped in the middle of it. The > board is the length of the keyboard and is crowned slightly upwards in the > center. When you set it on a flat surface, the crown begins already only a > few notes up from the bass, same in the treble, and very slowly increases in > crown to the center of the keyboard where it begins to go back down again as > you go towards the opposite end. Last night, I measured mine and it crowns > upwards just about exactly 2 mm in the center of my level board. I've used > this level board since I started tuning full time 35 years ago. * > > * * > > *Over the years, especially in recent years, when leveling keys on > Yamaha's and Kawai's in general, perhaps there are others as well, in the > center of the keyboard where this bevel or crown is greatest, there is often > as much as about 1/8" gap between the bottom of my level board and top of > the key. On these pianos, this amount of difference is consistent. * > > * * > > *Because of this, I began questioning the accuracy of my level board > wondering if it had warped until last night when I asked Lyle Wood RPT to > measure his on a flat surface as I did with mine. He has one exactly like > mine. We both got the exact same measurements of 2mm in the center which > obviously tells me that my level board is not off which raises questions. > * > > * * > > *I regulated a Yamaha console M300 series last week and the week prior. > The Yamaha specs called for, I forget what it was off hand, but, something > like I think 59 mm (?) key height. Low C was exactly that and so was high > B. Others around it were very similar too. * > > * * > > *After setting the hammer line to exactly what the specs called for and > then regulating the capstan, let off back check etc., on those two notes, I > checked the dip and after touch and it was nearly perfect but, not quite. > Seeing as how most keys were very close to that key height according to my > mm ruler, I chose to increase it by 1 mm to get a better after-touch. At > that setting, the after-touch etc., was perfect. Yet, according to my level > board, because of the crown in the level board, it was WAY OFF in the middle > of the keyboard. As much as 1/8" or more. There was no way that I could > raise those keys up that much or the bottoms of the keys would have been > above the top of the keyslip. There would have a very noticeable difference > in key height had you sat back and just looked at the key fronts and tops. > * > > * * > > *So, I sat back thinking about it for a bit and then I chose to use a MM > ruler to level them all completely even or flat, rather than using my level > board. I didn't have to change much this way and it all came out darn near > perfect. But, what a pain in the ass that was compared to using the level > board. But, it most certainly got me to thinking about this more. * > > * * > > *One question is, was this level board meant for the older pianos that > called for possibly more crown in the middle or perhaps more crown than what > today's pianos call for? * > > * * > > *A 2nd question is, do any of you know what Yamaha or Kawai actually calls > for in the specs for leveling? By that, I mean, I know it just says X > amount for key height for all pianos in our manuals but, I was taught as > were some of you that it should be slightly crowned towards the center of > the keyboard. For what reason, I'm not quite sure. But, I am wondering if > maybe Yamaha's, Kawai's and maybe more of today's pianos call for a pretty > much straight, FLAT keyboard with no crown in the center? * > > * * > > *What are your thoughts on this?* > > * * > > *Thanks for your time,* > > *Jer* > > [image: Jerry.5] > > > > > ------------------------------ > > avast! Antivirus <http://www.avast.com>: Outbound message clean. > > Virus Database (VPS): 090620-0, 06/20/2009 > Tested on: 6/21/2009 10:36:42 AM > avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2009 ALWIL Software. > > > > > > ------------------------------ > > avast! Antivirus <http://www.avast.com>: Outbound message clean. > > Virus Database (VPS): 090620-0, 06/20/2009 > Tested on: 6/21/2009 4:39:17 PM > avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2009 ALWIL Software. > > -- Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter Olympia, WA www.pianova.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20090621/a9f5df85/attachment-0001.htm> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 14480 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20090621/a9f5df85/attachment-0001.jpeg>
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