[pianotech] Baldwin upright: bobbling hammers, poor checking

[J Patrick Draine]

Hi Gregor,
That material is what we call corfam: Baldwin's inappropriate substitute
for true buckskin. Most of us are familiar with the tan version, but George
Emerson has recently testified that an earlier, less hardening black
version was called corfam by the factory back in the day.
In the US most often the corfam is replaced with ecsaine, a good synthetic
buckskin substitute. If the owner has the budget to correct the problem.
Patrick Draine

On Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 11:01 AM, Gregor _ <karlkaputt at hotmail.com> wrote:

>  List,
>
> today I tuned a Baldwin from about 1980. With a fortissimo blow there was
> only a poor checking and therefore some nearly bobbling hammers. I think
> the reason is that the catcher buckskin and the backcheck felt don´t have a
> strong enough grip. Or it could be that the overall geometry of the action
> is not so well designed. There was enough aftertouch and no problem with a
> piano or forte blow.
>
>  We don´t see many Baldwins here, but I guess in the USA this problem
> might be well known? The cather buckskin is made of a strange material, no
> leather.
>
> Ever experienced that on a Baldwin (about 105 cm height).
>
> Gregor
>
> ------------------------
> piano technician - tuner - dealer
> Münster, Germany
> www.weldert.de
>
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