[CAUT] balancier/wippens report

[RicB]

Hi David and Susan

This is where I always end up thinking about this issue.  I envision 
that a hammer bouncing off at the high speeds we are talking about (even 
with soft play things are pretty fast) needs to not have any sideplay or 
wobble at the moment it contacts the check.  The check will try and hold 
not only a tail coming down into it, but one that is shaking, rattling, 
rocking and rolling :)  To.. it will generally have some sideways 
checking to attempt to hold. You can see this often on angled bored 
hammers that sometimes check and sometimes dont by watching closely for 
sideways movement when you release the check.  Perhaps when this happens 
some shear force gets into the picture between the <<<joint>> between 
the check and the tail and once broken and the tail gets moving 
sideways... it also releases in the vertical direction. I dunno when it 
comes down to it... speculation.  But firmer pinning always results in 
better checking IME.

Dont know if I 100% agree about the stronger spring comment Susan 
forwarded tho.  You do have to at least watch out for the feel of the 
spring in the key upon release from check. Gets really annoying if that 
is too strong.

Cheers
RicB


    I tell you what, David ... next time you have a good quality piano
    which is offending in the checking department, pin a few of the worst
    hammers to three swings and observe what happens. Then maybe you can
    explain it to me. I just know that if I do it, I like the results.
    Oh, and while you're at it, you might check the wippen flange and the
    balancier pinning as well, and fix them if they're very loose. But
    I've found that the hammer flange is the main problem, giving more
    immediate results than the other two.

    Best,
    Susan