[CAUT] Schwander balancier pinning

[A440A at aol.com]

 Dave asks:
<< The above assumes that you get new parts with nice even pinning.  Where
do you get yours? >>

       Mainly in my dreams, but overall, there is usually less work on new 
parts.  That is partially offset by new failure, as I have had this month on two 
sets of whippens.  One set was installed and used lightly for 15 years before 
the jacks began to freeze. The other was last years concert rebuild, so after 
two were found to be tight, I pulled the whole set off and repinned them.  
This happened in the dryest part of the calender, and occurred spontaneously, so 
I don't believe it was humidity.
   It seems I remember having to bend a lot of jack pins in some of the 
Baldwin actions to keep the jack near centered,  I think there must be a limit on 
how much of that can be done before dependability and durability issues arise.  
   I'm not afraid of new parts on heavily worked pianos.  Damper felts every 
couple or four years, back actions every three decades, hammers every year or 
three if they really want it voiced all the time, etc. Somewhere in there lies 
the whippen, or whipping if I spend all day on it.  We kept the original 
Teflon whippens at Vanderbilt for 26 years. They were fine, but gradually the 
maintenance costs and worry about things breaking ( like that cool little tender 
joint?) grew to make new parts a good investment in stress.  That is sort of a 
specific answer to a general question, mea culpa. 
     At some point, I think I can get a better result, for the same or a 
little more cost, with starting over.   


Ed Foote RPT 
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
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