[CAUT] killer shanks

[David Love]

It might very well be that thinned shanks help especially with harder
hammers on low tension/light soundboard designs.  My own theory is that
hammer resilience (bounce) matching string tensions in some way is critical
for hammer/string contact time in terms of how partials develop vis a vis
the fundamental.  With a poorly matched harder hammer on a light assembly,
anything that assists in the effective resilience of the hammer shank
assembly will be a benefit.  With softer hammers that are a better match for
the string scale/soundboard interface, a thinned shank will not be
necessary.  Similarly, with higher tension scales and accompanying stiffer
soundboard assemblies, a thinned shank on a firm and heavier hammer won't
reap the same benefit and might, in fact, be a detriment.    

 

David Love
davidlovepianos at comcast.net
www.davidlovepianos.com 

-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Chris
Solliday
Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2007 9:53 AM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: [CAUT] killer shanks

 

Bob Hull

Yes I taper/channel the whole set and sort by weight. I am told that the
stiffening is akin to I-beam construction but I am not an engineer so
consider that hearsay. Speaking of hearing just put a tapered shank in the
middle of the bass section amongst the hex and see if you hear a difference.
I do. I get a stronger 3rd partial most of the time and I like that. I think
tha doing this clears up the tone of the whole piano. You should experiment
for yourself. A factory channeled complete set is available from Abel
through Wally Brooks who was the first person to point out the attributes of
doing this for me.  As I recall they are only Hamburg specs but I have used
them with success. Wally will also channel other sets for you for a small
fee. I am told that other sets are available from Pianotek and others but I
have not gotten any so consider that a rumor. Usually I channel my own with
a router gig and/or free hand on a belt sander. It is surprising how quickly
and uniformly they can be turned out which is why i often don't bother with
the router set up. I sort by weight to help smooth the Strikeweight taper
ala Stanwood. I hope we can get some slow mo video on the difference
someday.

Chris Solliday

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