[CAUT] Touchweight, etc.

[Ed Sutton]

I agree, with the following caveat: as the friction increases, it gets
harder to get accurate up and down weight readings.  The work proceeds
faster and more accurately if I deal with friction as much as possible
first. 

Don't worry, there will still be some irregularities of friction, no matter
how hard you work!

Ed S.


David wrote:
>
> If you measure the up and down weight on the notes you are sampling you
will
> be able to calculate the friction and know instantly whether you have a
> friction problem or not.  
>
> David Love
> davidlovepianos@comcast.net 
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of Fred
> Sturm
> Sent: Monday, August 01, 2005 9:49 AM
> To: College and University Technicians
> Subject: Re: [CAUT] Touchweight, etc.
>
>
> On 7/31/05 2:05 PM, "James Ellis" <claviers@nxs.net> wrote:
>
> > I deal with the friction first.  Keys first, absolutely, before anything
> > else, then the various action centers.  There is no sense fretting with
> > action centers if the keys are binding.  To do a thorough job checking
the
> > keys, the stack must of off.  You will find things you can't find if the
> > stack is on.  After you have the keys all in good shape, deal with the
> > action centers.  Don't overlook mundane things like rep levers rubbing
on
> > adjacent knuckles, and stuff like that.
>
>     I agree with Jim Ellis 100% on this. Don't even look at weight until
you
> have examined friction, particularly key friction (and then alignment
> issues). For key friction, yes, the stack must be off. To check the keys
> thoroughly, use lead counterweights on the backs of the keys. A couple
jiffy
> leads, and a couple half jiffy leads, will serve very well. Place them on
> each key in turn, enough weight and placed so that you counterbalance the
> key leads, so that the key is balanced and doesn't want to go one
direction
> more than the other. Then nudge the key in either direction (down in
front,
> down in back). It should move freely - float. There will be a difference
in
> response from bass to treble, due to change in mass, but it will be
obvious
> which keys have friction issues, and you will see much more than can be
> found by other means. Even tiny amounts of balance bushing or balance hole
> friction will show up in an obvious way.
>     This goes pretty fast, as the number and placement of weights will (or
> should) change very gradually as you go up the keyboard (a bit of
difference
> from sharps to naturals). You will also see where keys have been weighted
> unevenly. If that is the case (and it nearly always is, at least to some
> extent) mark the keys that are unevenly leaded, and consider just removing
> an obvious lead or two where that seems appropriate, before your later,
> finer leading work. (If it's really haywire, do a pattern leading, but
> that's another topic). Unfortunately, the key weighting folks in most
> factories are not well trained, and lack curiosity - they solve all
problems
> by adding lead. This seems to be true in most factories to a greater or
> lesser extent, and many rebuilding shops are also guilty.
>     Once you have addressed key friction, and looked closely at
> alignment/rubbing issues - visually making sure there is no contact of
> hammer felt, knuckles, reps to neighbor knuckles, etc. - a quick check of
> other friction is simply to do a quick upweight check. Use a 15 or 20 gm
> weight, quickly along the keyboard, marking any that don't raise the
weight
> readily. Then examine those notes and find out why.
>     Doing this quick and efficient work ahead of time will save lots of
time
> fussing and puzzling later. It's like doing the pitch raise ahead of fine
> tuning.
> Regards,
> Fred Sturm
> University of New Mexico
>
>
>
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