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

[David Ilvedson]

Yes it does...thanks, I'll give it a try...your right about the handle...;-]

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA  94044


----- Original message ----------------------------------------
From: "Fred Sturm" <fssturm at unm.edu>
To: caut <caut at ptg.org>
Received: 7/17/2006 5:01:45 PM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Re-traveling (was Re:  (no subject))


>Hi David,
>    No cradle. Stack is off the keyframe. It is placed upside down on the
>bench, hammers and hammerflange screws in contact with the bench surface.
>The hammers stay in contact with the bench, while the action frame is
>pivoted upward (the hammerflange screws also stay down, the wipp flange rail
>is lifted). Does this explain it better? With a Steinway, you just lift on
>the sostenuto rod. And lift until the jack tenders are in contact with the
>letoff felts. Do the lifting with one hand, pencil in the other hand to mark
>the tails of hammers that move.
>Regards,
>Fred Sturm
>University of New Mexico


>On 7/17/06 1:51 PM, "David Ilvedson" <ilvey at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

>> 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
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>
>>