[CAUT] Natural key width

[Paul T Williams]

Hi there,

Here's the installation steps for the Steinbuhler action for a S&S D; I've 
never done this, but this is what it says; I hope it helps those 
interested. 
Best,

Paul



1.  Preparation before starting.
Remove the two filler blocks from the bass and trble end of the keyboard. 
Remove the soft pedal plate from the underside of the frame.  Make sure 
the glide bolts are screwed into the frame off the bed of the piano.  Make 
sure the key frame shift screw is screwed in out of the way.  Slide the 
dag block plates into the frame and tighten their bolts.  Remove the key 
stop rail.

2.  Setting the plate on the left side of the frame.
Slide the action into the piano and see how the hammers line up under the 
strings.  Add or subtract shims in back the plate on the left side of the 
frame to give the hammers the best average alignment under the strings. 
The individual hammers will be adjusted later to position them under the 
strings.

3.  Setting the glide pins.
Slide the action into the piano and move the trble end in and out while 
striking treble notes to find the optimal position for the trble hammers 
front to back.  The treble glide pin can now be set to mate with the slot 
in the cheek block.  Add or subract shims in back of the block that holds 
the pin so that the pin is in the proper position left to right to mate 
with the slot in the cheek block.  Then adjust the pin front to back and 
up and down so that the cheek block will hold the frame in its proper 
position.  After the treble pin is set, follow the same procedure to set 
the bass pin making sure that the key frame is parallel with the front to 
the piano.

4.  Installing the soft pedal lever plate.
Measure the distance in the piano from the left frame stop to the right 
edge of the soft pedal lever.  Attach the soft pedal plate to the bottom 
of the frame and position it left to right so that the distance from the 
left edge of the frame to left edge of the plate equals the above measured 
distance.  Put the action in the piano with the cheek blocks in place and 
make sure the soft pedal is working correctly.  Adjust as needed. 
Adjustment screws on the right side of the plate help keep the plate in 
its proper position.  Shims may be needed under the plate to put the plate 
at the proper height to mate with the soft pedal lever.

5.  Setting the back rail height.
The keyboard has been designed to be able to change the height of the 
action stack by about .300"  In our shop the elevation blocks in the back 
rail were set at .200" below the frame and then the action was regulated 
to the standard.  The action can be raised another .150" above the 
standart or lowered .150" below the standard or even a bit more to 
accommodate variations in the string heights when Steinway installed the 
harp.  Generate the string height graph and compare it to the standard. 
Make the appropriate adjustments in the elevation blocks in the back rail. 
 Put the action in the piano and insure the let off is appropriately below 
the strings.  Make adjustments in the elvation blocks if necessary.

6.  Bedding the front rail.
Remove the keys from the frame and mount the action stack.  The frame is 
now ready for bedding.  In our shop the 5 elevation blocks in the front 
rail were set at .065"  .090"  .105"  .090"  .065 below the frame going 
from left to right.  This gives a .040" crown under the front rail as per 
Steinway specifications.  The height of the glide pins at the ends of the 
front rail can then be adjusted up and down to insure that the ends of the 
front rail are bedded when the cheek blocks are in place.  This should 
remove all knocking in the front rail.

7.  Bed the balance rail.
Before we did the regulation of the keyboard in our shop, we bedded the 
balance rail to our bench with the keys off and the action stack mounted. 
So with the keys off the frame and the action stack on, bed the balance 
rail in the piano using traditional methods.  This will preserve our 
regulation.

8.  Set the sostenuto bar on actions for steinway pianos.
In our action, the sostenuto bar is mounted from the frame and not the 
action stack, so it can be easily adjusted in the piano with the action 
stack off.  Take the action stack off the frame giving clear access to the 
adjusting screws and place the bare frame in the piano.  Adjust the 
sostenuto bar up and down until the bar is just above the underlever tabs 
and then adjust the bar front to back until it works properly.  Test by 
first depressing the damper pedal and then the sostenuto pedal to see if 
all the dampers continue to be supported after the damper pedal is 
released.  Also, while first depressing the sostenuto pedal, depress and 
release the damper pedal to see if any dampers hang up.

9.  Set the dag block plates.
Loosen the screws on the dag block plates.  Put the bare frame in the 
piano and insert the cheek blocks.  Slide the dag block plates back until 
they touch the back of the dag blocks and then tighten their screws to 
secure their positions.  These two plates will hold the action to the bed 
of the piano when the piano is on its side during shipping.  They also 
will locate the action in the piano front to back.  This is useful during 
voicing of the hammers when the action must be pulled out of the piano for 
needling and put back in the piano for testing.  Since the action will be 
in the proper position front to back, there is no need to repeatedly 
install the cheek blocks.

10. Checking the after touch.
Put the keys and action stack back on the frame and place the action in 
the piano.  The keys should have about .410" of dip giving a nice after 
touch.  Small adjustments can be make to the dip by adjusting the glide 
bolts in the balance rail using needle nose pliers from the bottom of the 
frame.

11. Setting the damper lifter height.
On the back of the keys the height of the damper lifter can be adjusted by 
adding to or removing washers from under the damper lifter.  The extra 
washers are stored on top of the damper lifter.  The screw is designed to 
hold the damper lifter, 6 height adjusting washers, a small steel washer, 
and a lock washer.  The key's damper lifter should raise the damper to the 
same height as the damper pedal so to determine if the damper lifter needs 
to be raised or lowered make the following tests.  Press the damper pedal 
to raise all the dampers and then press a key.  If the key raises its 
damper an additional amount then the damper lifter is too high and needs 
to be lowered by moving one or more of the washers from under the damper 
lifter to the top.  Likewise, first press a key and then press the damper 
pedal.  If the pedal raises the damper an additional amount then the 
damper lifter is too low and needs to be raised by moving one or more of 
the washers from the top of the damper lifter to the bottom.

12. Setting the hammers.
Adjust the hammers under the strings using traditional methods.

13.  Finishing up.
With a wrench, set the key frame shift screw as desired.  Different size 
filler blocks have been provided.  Attach to the frame the largest blocks 
that will comfortable fit in the gap at the bss and treble ends of the 
frame.  Replace the key stop rail.

>From Steinbuhler and Co
11810 North Perry Road
Titusville, PA  16354 
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