[CAUT] tight balancier

[Willem Blees]

Quoting A440A at aol.com:

> Wim writes:
> 
> << As I said, I got a bunch of balanciers up to 6 grams. Now I will
> go 
> 
> for more resistance, when I can find a couple of hours in the hall. 
> >>
> 
>        One other thing you may want to look at is the lubrication in
> the 
> grub,(spring slot).  If there is high friction there, the spring may
> have so much 
> "stiction" (static friction), that the hammer is bouncing off the
> balancier.  
>       Remove the whippen, clean and lube the grub and see if things
> change. 
> Make note if there is an indention somewhere along the slot's length
> and 
> burnish it away.   High use pianos often have springs that are
> digging into the grub 
> after having worn a groove for themselves.  This seems more prevalent
> in 
> pianos made in the last 40 years, and I have wondered if the maple is
> not as hard 
> as it used to be. 
>       Another approach is to swap a non-checking whippen with the
> nearest 
> neighbor that checks and see if the problem stays or goes with the
> whippen.  If 
> it stays, I would take another look at tail radius and back-check
> angle. 
>  
> Ed Foote RPT 
> http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
> www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html

Ed

I looked at the spring slots while I was repining the balanciers, and 
they were all clean. I've not changed wippens on this piano, but I do 
that on another D that was giving me trouble, but it didn't solve the 
problem.

So far, as far as I can tell, the only solution to the bobbling problem 
is the balancier pinning.

Wim  



>  
> 


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