[pianotech] rep spring groove lubricant friction

Allen Wright akwright at btopenworld.com
Fri Jul 30 05:16:53 MDT 2010


While regulating 4 year old Steinway Model B's (Hamburg), we noticed  
that sometimes simply moving the spring back and forth in the groove  
(without removing or changing the tension in any way) was causing  
hammers to rise from check more quickly. Anyone else ever notice this?

It would appear that there can be enough buildup of lubricant (in the  
form of a channel that the spring has to move through) as to create  
some drag.

As further evidence for this explanation, I noticed that when I  
pushed down slightly on the lever as well (while moving the spring  
back and forth) the hammers rose slightly faster yet; pushing the  
lever enabled the spring to smooth off the entire length of the  
channel. Hard to believe that small amount of gunk could cause  
noticeable results, but apparently so.

These two aren't of the same lever, but will make the before-and- 
after point intended. I took some shots (which I can't seem to find)  
which showed an even more impressive trough of graphite - especially  
when zoomed. Let's hear it for the closeup digital photography we all  
have access to now - it really becomes a sort of substitute microscope.

I wonder if permalon (sp?) - the green stuff - might in fact be  
better, because it's harder?

Allen Wright

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