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

[David Ilvedson]

Is the stack being held in an action cradle?   Seems like marking hammer tails would be a pain if you had to set it down before marking?   

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA  94044


----- Original message ----------------------------------------
From: "Willem Blees" <wblees at bama.ua.edu>
To: "College and University Technicians" <caut at ptg.org>
Received: 7/16/2006 5:14:59 PM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Re-traveling (was Re:  (no subject))


>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