Caster orientation

[Don Mannino]

Allan,

The direction of the front casters depends on the piano and the
location, type of floor, etc.  Generally they should be either both
facing front (my preference), both facing back (not usually best for
Kawai for some reason), or facing forward very slightly splayed out.

A slight angle seems to prevent any chance of the slight rocking of the
piano that comes from play in the casters when they are locked down.
Preventing this can help the tone of the piano, so the Kawai concert
technicians often will put a slight outward angle to the front casters.

Rolling a piano into position and leaving the large casters any which
way is not the best, as the regulation will be changed slightly each
time the piano is placed.  I usually train the stage crew to first place
the piano in position, but off to stage right about 2 feet. Then roll
the piano into place and lock the casters.  This sets the casters
straight.  

I think the affect on tone from action changes is the most reasonable
explanation for why caster orientation is important with these large
offset casters.  The idea that the piano structure is somehow stressed
for better tone (the usual explanation for pointing the front casters
backwards) seems to be trying to put a little too much mystique into the
issue, but then again, sometimes these things do turn out to have some
kernel of validity to them.

Don Mannino


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Allan Gilreath [mailto:agilreath@mindspring.com] 
> Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2004 3:18 PM
> To: 'College and University Technicians'
> Subject: Caster orientation
> 
> 
> For Don Mannino:
> 
> Don, haven't you folks at Kawai found a particular 
> orientation of the casters to work better than others? Not 
> that I make it to classes near as often as I wish, but I seem 
> to remember something along those lines.
> 
> Allan
> Allan L. Gilreath