[CAUT] moving capstans question

[Richard Brekne]

Hi Paul.

Before jumping in with advice about whether or not to move the capstan 
line... I wonder if you might make a few other measurements on about 10 
keys so as to give us a little better idea of why for certain you have a 
70 gram DW.  Cant say I've ever run into any stock Steinway that has a 
70 gram DW that can be traced to the actions geometry.

How about weighing off the following for us for 5 C's and C#'s--- 

DW,  UW,  Hammer Strike Weight (dead weight will do if you dont have a 
jig for measureing SW)  Front weight of keys, and also measure the 
distance along the top of the key from the key-front to the middle of 
the balance hole and again from their to the middle of the capstan.  
Better yet measure the Key Ratio ala Stanwood if you can... but the 
former will suffice to get a good enough idea of whats going on.

The magic line bit is rather over stated IMB... that said.. I'd rather 
go about putting it on line by makeing sure the capstan was in an 
appropriate position for my desired KR... and then make sure the whippen 
cushion is long/short enough to allow for the capstan being on the line 
at half blow.  Jon Page has a really nice procedure for locating the 
<<optimal>> placement of the capstan for any action based on the amount 
of whippen travel....  I'll defer to him to describe that for you.

I'd also suggest reading up / taking a class or two on Stanwood if you 
havent already done so.  He cant answer all geometry questions... but he 
can put you on a thinking path that will take you a long ways down that 
road.

Cheers
RicB


    Hi List!

    Happy Friday!

    I am working on a 70's Sty B with a horrible action geometry
    problem. All
    the students and the professor hate playing it and I don't blame
    them! The
    line from key balance hole to wip has the capstan way too low making
    the
    DW close to 70g throughout.  It has a renner action and hammers. 
    the wips
    and capstans are such that I could relocate the capstans back by about
    3-4mm.  Would that make a big enough difference in the DW? It won't
    affect
    the line.  I looked at raising the stack, but there isn't enough
    room to
    raise it more than 1-2mm.  Should I try both?

    Also, is the measurement in Steinways made from center of balance rail
    hole on the top of the key, or from the back of the key?  This is a new
    endeavor for me and I don't want to make things worse.

    Still green in Lincoln,

    Paul