Hi WIm, I find that I routinely re-travel every time I "re-prep" a piano, and always find room for improvement. I am convinced that shanks and flanges warp a wee bit, one way or the other, and this leads to some changes in travel. I also think that the standard method of traveling is prone to mistakes, especially resulting in large groups of hammers traveling in unison in one direction or other. I have found that I get much better and more consistent results by laying the stack with hammers and flanges down on the workbench, then rotating the stack (Steinway provides a nice long handle for the purpose <G>) rapidly up and down, with the limit of motion being when jack tails and letoff buttons meet. Observe the sideward motion of the hammers, focusing particularly on the ends of the hammershanks protruding through the hammer molding. The hammers should be entirely static (well, they will move toward and away from you a bit), and it is easy to see which are moving side to side, even minutely. I make marks on the tail, starting on the tip, on the side towards which the hammer is moving (under which I will place a shim). (Second and third time through I will move the marks down the tail toward the shank, to distinguish). Pencil for light wood, chalk for dark. Then turn the stack up, with hammerflanges and hammers up toward you (not resting on the cushions), so you can see the marks. Remove, shim, replace, using electric screwdriver with clutch (finger start screws every time). Goes fast, yields better results than any other method I have tried. I find that when I follow myself after using this method, there is very little touchup to do. But there is always some, just as there is always some hammer squaring to do (burning shanks). Heck, as long as I'm writing, I'll describe that technique, too. With the stack placed so that the hammer flanges are toward you, lift each hammer in turn to the point where the shank is level with the crowns of the neighboring hammers. Center the shank/molding between those two crowns (use a spacing tool or loosen the screw and space). Do this as anally as you possibly can, judging those distances to the diameter of a hair. Now drop the hammer to rest (have a straight board under the shanks for support, to keep them even), and burn if needed to center the crown of that hammer precisely between those same two crowns. Go to the next. I have rarely come across a factory job or a rehang job (my own included) that didn't have a lot of room for improvement, sometimes a whole lot. Meticulous travel, square, filing, and string leveling leads to voicing that goes like butter. End of harangue (I've been doing a lot of this particular work for the past several weeks, both at the U and at a couple concert venues, so it's fresh in my mind). Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico fssturm at unm.edu On Jul 14, 2006, at 12:04 PM, Willem Blees wrote: > Two years ago I hung a new set of h,s,f on a B, and I thought I had > done a real good job of traveling the shanks. But this morning when I > put the action on my bench for routine maintenance, I discovered > about a dozen or so shanks that were traveling a little to one side. > > Now, am I just getting that much critical with my own work, or do > flanges tend to "settle" in, thus needing to be traveled again? > > Wim > Willem Blees, RPT > Piano Tuner/Technician > School of Music > University of Alabama > Tuscaloosa, AL USA > > > Willem Blees, RPT > Piano Tuner/Technician > School of Music > University of Alabama > Tuscaloosa, AL USA >
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