[CAUT] Checking

[Tim Geinert]

Alan,
Thanks for the copy of the instructions.

The first time I heard of raising the backchecks was from Scott Jones
teaching at a regional seminar.  I think he also talked about using a snap
ring pliers.  Kevin Stock, also with S&S for a time, had a modified snap
ring pliers with a slot cut out for the wire.  He would just lift them, then
even them out.  I think that's because he knew what he was doing
intuitively.  It was Roger Jolly that I first heard put some numbers which I
need with the idea;.... tail arc radius at 1/2 the hammer hanging distance
(usually right around 2 1/2), shank intersecting roughly the top 1/3 of the
backcheck (this does not need to be fussed with if the hammer line gets
raised from filing or whatever), and the backcheck angled back 18 degress
from vertical (pretty similar to the 68 or 70 degrees you work from, just
different point of reference and 4 deg. different).  I always enjoy hearing
the different approaches to the same thing, because not all things work the
same for everyone, (not wrong, just different) and it is also good to get
something reaffirmed by a seperate source.    A different perspective can
turn the light bulb on.

Tim G


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alan McCoy" <amccoy at mail.ewu.edu>
To: <caut at ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2006 2:46 PM
Subject: [CAUT] Checking


> Hi folks,
>
> Regarding Wim's thread. Just finished working over a 14 yr old GH1 with
> poor
> tenor checking. Tails digging into the backchecks, borderline-too-strong
> rep
> springs, backchecks at about 80 degrees, tails glazed, tails have a
> S&S-type
> hump and sharp bottom edge. Tail length about 1".
>
> I probably could have fixed the problem just with correcting the angle to
> 70
> degrees, but while at it I worked over the tails quickly removing the
> hump,
> glazing and sharp edge.
>
> For S&S though I find more often than not that a combination of incorrect
> backcheck angle ( I like 70 deg), incorrect backcheck height, tails too
> short ( I like 1"-1 1/16") , and poor tail arcing ( I like a smooth
> 2.75" -
> 3") are the main culprits for poor checking. Strong springs are sometimes
> part of the problem too, but often just draw your attention to the
> problem.
>
> Attached is a S&S document about installing backchecks.
>
> Have a great break!
>
> Alan
>
>