[pianotech] WNG Parts Question

[Paul T Williams]

That's what I'm starting to wonder...

Paul




From:
"David Love" <davidlovepianos at comcast.net>
To:
<pianotech at ptg.org>
Date:
06/22/2010 09:37 PM
Subject:
Re: [pianotech] WNG Parts Question



With all these issues, what’s the overriding advantage in using them?
 
David Love
www.davidlovepianos.com
 
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On 
Behalf Of William Truitt
Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 4:13 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] WNG Parts Question
 
Hi Nick:
 
I’m mostly through my first regulation on the WNG shanks, whippens, 
capstans, front and balance rail pins, and back checks; along with Weikert 
felt Ronsen hammers.  The shanks and whips are the cloth bushed ones, 
which were sitting on my shelf for a while.
 
My observations thus far:
 
Yes, the rep springs are insanely, outrageously strong – even with this 
set of Weikert felt hammers, which are on the heavy side.  I’m regulating 
them now but have done about half of them.  I’m still deciding what I’ll 
do to get them down consistently.  What did you end up doing Nick, besides 
pulling them up to strengthen them or pushing them down to weaken them?
 
I did have some problems with some of the drop screws being loose in the 
shank flange hole, and the jack window height adjustment screw the same. 
Also, some of the center pins were not centered well in their bushing 
cloth.  Also the ends of the shanks varied  in diameter at the tips, which 
required me to take sandpaper and round them down a bit.  Some hammer 
heads were quite tight on the shanks.  This created problems gluing on the 
heads.  I tried it both ways – the Franklin # 65 they were originally 
recommending, and a slow set CA glue (not theirs).  When the head is 
tighter on the shank, the glue starts to grab sooner.  The shanks are not 
very stiff torsionally, yet are stiff longitudinally.
 
I ended up doing about the “average” amount of traveling on the shanks. 
 
“Burning”of shanks is pretty simple and easy as pie once you start to get 
used to it.
 
I did end up with about half a dozen loose heads, which I CA’ed back on. I 
did remove one to relocate it,  no problema.  No clicikng issures
 
  But these are early parts so I will chalk these issues up to growing 
pains and am reluctant to extrapolate those issues and defects to current 
production.
 
Friction was very consistent in the 2 to 4 gram range, just as you 
observed.  Whips consistent.
 
I removed them from the rail and cut off the excess shank on the band saw, 
then cleaned them up on the belt sander.  Blew them out with an air gun. I 
don’t like the tubed shanks  - I think it gives the hammers  a hollow 
sound J
 
Did you put in WNG backchecks too, Nick?  I would be interested in your 
reaction to them if you did.
 
Did you use the back check kit that WNG sells?   I did, but I had to 
modify 3 of the 5 jigs just to be able to use them on this Steinway A.
 
Will Truitt
 
 
 
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On 
Behalf Of Nicholas Gravagne
Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 11:30 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: [pianotech] WNG Parts Question
 
For those of you familiar with the new Wessell, Nickel and Gross (WNG) 
composite action parts: 

Having recently installed WNG whippens along with shanks and flanges (w/ 
the new hard bushings) I have a couple of questions.

1) What is your general, overall sense of these parts in terms of 
regulation and performance? For one thing, we are finding the rep springs 
way too strong, requiring more than usual "uncoiling" to obtain correct 
spring strength. The shank flange friction is within WNG specs of 2 to 4 
grams as measured per the WNG site.

2) Have you encountered clicking sounds, reminiscent of the old S&S Teflon 
bushings? We have on about 8 treble notes. The clicking also might have 
been loose hammer heads, but these were checked and also reinforced (front 
and back joints) with CA glue, followed by making sure of flange and 
action screw tightness. 

Still clicking. Since the flange bushings are hard (as opposed to the 
earlier WNG parts which came with cloth bushings) we cannot easily check / 
repin these centers. Any WNG-specific insight on the source of clicking?

Some quick thoughts:

The action is an old Boston M&H BB that was heavily leaded. The lighter 
weight and lower inertia WNG parts, including the low-mass capstans, 
allowed for a significant amount of lead removal and / or reduction. 

The shanks "burn" easily and surely with a heat gun. 

The WNG "action glue" recommended for hammers, etc., works fine as long as 
you don't readjust previously glued hammers (as is often done with hot 
glue). If you see one leaning that was glued a few minutes earlier, better 
to let it dry and then burn it over later.

Very few flanges required travel paper. 

Overall flange friction, whips and shanks, is fairly consistent.

Trimming and / or sanding off the hammer shank (tube) stubs after the 
hammer glue has dried creates a black powder, some of which migrates into 
the hollow tube only to escape later on to your nice, clean backchecks. 
Break up the fibrous material in the tubes with a wire and vacuum out, or 
else allow the shanks to hang vertical and shake-'n-tap the powder out.

Am probably forgetting something. Will post more when I know (or remember) 
more. 

I know that Bruce Clark is storehouse of knowledge here, but I am also 
interested in varied input and experience from working techs.

Thanks

-- 
Nick Gravagne, RPT
AST Mechanical Engineering


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