[CAUT] Re-traveling (was Re: (no subject))

[Willem Blees]

Fred

Thank you for a very comprehensive method of traveling. It's exactly 
the way I do it. I have even developed a class, called "Have heat gun, 
will travel", where I basically go over the same procedures. But 
perhaps, as you stated, I get more and more particular as I keep doing 
it, and as Hubert said, living here in Alabama also makes it more 
challenging. 

Wim 


Quoting Fred Sturm <fssturm at unm.edu>:

> 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
> >
> 


Willem Blees, RPT
Piano Tuner/Technician
School of Music
University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL USA