List The piano is a Steinway upright from the 1870s. It came to me, refinished, almost completely rebuilt, and nearly unplayable. There is a lot of friction, especially on some keys. I suspected verdigris, but the action centers were not the problem. (It is verdigris free, and everything moves freely.) The problem seems to be the wippen pads. The hammer moves with no appreciable resistance when I lift the wippen with my finger. Push the key down and I have to use undue pressure. The keys themselves need new bushings, move too freely, and are not the problem, either. The capstans are smooth and when I run my finger over the top there is no stickiness, roughness, or anything would increase friction. (They are the big wooden dowel capstans.) The wippen felt pads, though, are heavily dented, even though they were replaced in the rebuild. They are a white felt, they look to be an appropriate thickness, but my theory is that the felt was too soft and thus the dents are, at least, a part of the problem. I want to make sure I don't replace these with a felt that is also too soft. How can one measure and compare the softness of felts? Or is there a specific brand/weight/etc. that you have used with success? Thanks in advance for any advice you all might have, Tom SivakChicago -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20090625/d2aee0e1/attachment.htm>
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