[CAUT] tight balancier

[Willem Blees]

Ed

this morning on the Concert D, I repinned about 2 dozen balanciers in 
octaves 2 and 3 from about 2 grams up to 6 grams. I had to reset the 
springs so that the hammer just barely moves up on release. The 
bobbling was less than before, but they still do not check on a medium 
to soft blow. 

I checked the resistance on the lowest octave, and they were at 6 
grams already. But they are also still bobbling on a medium blow. 
(They do check on a harder blow). Have you tried increasing the 
resistance to more than 6 grams in the low bass?

Wim 

Quoting A440A at aol.com:

> Wim writes: 
> << someone mentioned that a tight 
> 
> balancier will cause a hammer to bobble. My question is, does anyone
> 
> 
> have a gram resistance measurement for this? << 
> 
>     I like balanciers to be pinned about 4-6 grams, (just like the
> jacks).  
>  
> 
> >If the balancier is tight, then the spring 
> 
> will need to be tight, which could cause the hammer to bobble. But it
> 
> 
> is too loose, the spring would need to be loose, which could cause it
> 
> 
> not to hold the hammer. << 
> 
>      An excessively tight balancier will require an excessively tight
> spring, 
> which will cause excessive friction between them.  If this is the
> case, the 
> rebound from a very soft blow will not even move the balancier off
> the drop 
> screw, causing the hammer to bounce.  
> 
> >>I have several pianos with bobbling hammers, especially in the 2nd
> and 
> 
> 3rd octave. Before doing anything, I want to know what to do.  >>
> 
>       I would try repinning the balancier on those notes, reset the
> spring, 
> and see what happens.  I would suspect that the problem is in the arc
> of the 
> tail and the angle of the back-check.  (I like to have the springs as
> tight as 
> possible without being able to feel the hammer kick upon release from
> the 
> back-check). 
> Regards,  
> Ed  
> 


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