HI Tom: I think you would be most helpful to those of us who want to give you good, accurate advice if you were to tell us exactly which parts in the action have been replaced. New hammers? New damper felts? Have the underlevers been replaced, or are they original? If they are new, I would particularly check for too strong damper springs. If they are original and the felt that contacts the spoon has not been replaced, you would be astonished how much friction can come from that interface once the felt reaches a certain amount of wear. Along with that, burrs or corrosion on old spoons can add a lot of friction. Were the hammer butts replaced, or at least, was the hammer butt leather replaced.? If not, you have 130 year old butts that are likely heavily cavitated, again another source of high friction. And, it may seem strange, but very loose and worn key bushings can contribute a lot of friction. I would say also that you should not be looking for ONE thing as the problem, particularly if most of the parts in the action are original. It may be an accumulation of sins. Will Truitt From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Dean May Sent: Friday, June 26, 2009 11:46 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] wippen felt advice >>Remember, this thing is ancient! Good luck! Since it has been mostly rebuilt I would suspect it's most likely not a from old parts, but from new parts, either incorrectly selected parts, or improperly set up. Dean Dean May cell 812.239.3359 PianoRebuilders.com 812.235.5272 Terre Haute IN 47802 _____ From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of J Patrick Draine Sent: Friday, June 26, 2009 10:57 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] wippen felt advice I'm sure Pianotek or Pianoforte can provide you with acceptably firm cloth for the wippen pads. The worn key bushings could be causing wobbling between the dowel capstan and the wippen cloth, wasting pressure on the key on side to side friction rather than direct wippen movement. Even though the various flanged parts appear to be free of verdigris and "move freely", remove them from one of the "high friction keys", and take some measurements of flange friction. What condition is the hammer butt buckskin and butt felt? Damper lever felt at spoon contact? Remember, this thing is ancient! Good luck! Patrick On Thu, Jun 25, 2009 at 7:27 PM, Tom Sivak <tvaktvak at sbcglobal.net> wrote: 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 Sivak Chicago -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20090626/e9841690/attachment.htm>
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