[CAUT] Turbo wips/new info!

Paul T Williams pwilliams4 at unlnotes.unl.edu
Mon May 10 14:47:12 MDT 2010


Thanks David,

I haven't gone as far as using a chart,(YET) but just a sheet of paper 
with initial downweight measurements with all action together with stack 
on on a good bench, ends clamped down and a small 1/32" shim in the middle 
of the bottom of the keyframe to "sort of" replicate the piano's keybed. 
The "chart" might show a moderate curve as we like in the bass with a few 
freak measurements either high or low, but in the treble, it's everywhere 
with anything from (say A3 and up) from nice DW like 47-48g to an 
occasional 36g and then a 50g out of nowhere! It's very sparatic (spell)( 
sorry.)The whole thing is like this...good, good, good, great, weird, way 
heavy, too heavy, good, light, heavy, etc....It's driving the pianists as 
crazy as me! The control is out! 

When I started here 4 years ago, this was a great piano and I haven't done 
anything to it other than tune and voice.Oh!  I just thought of this; I 
put in a full DC system on this piano last March....  This adds to the 
jinx of it.  I think it might be one of our best B's. (a 1926, me thinks). 
 It was just in this last six months that I'm getting complaints about 
it.....   ?? What effects/affects might this DC system have done?  The 
tunings are a bit more stable, however.

I then disassembled it and took the stack off and looked, felt the wips 
with the hammers out of the way. Visually, some of the springs were a bit 
twisty and not a gentle curve as one might expect. Then, it was visual 
that the wips hang very unevenly.  The twist is, that some higher hanging 
wips ( suggesting higher spring tension) with its' neighbor were either 
really close in DW to the neighbor that was correct, not at all, or 
opposite as you might think. It's very frustrating to be sure. Me thinks 
the springs have just been messed up by a former student tech.  Perhaps a 
closer look at wip pinning might be in order? This was obviously something 
done by a previous student tech, or, a non named rebuilder from another 
state, not to be mentioned, who did this for us years ago....not Richard, 
of course!  He's too good of a tech to have done this mess!!! :>) 
(REALLY!)....not too impressed with work from this other fellow....(other 
work around the school included)...

If the springs are messed up, are the wips messed up as well?  I don't see 
myself replacing all the springs.....too much time involved.
Now what?

Best,

Paul












From:
David Stanwood <stanwood at tiac.net>
To:
caut at ptg.org
Date:
05/10/2010 02:14 PM
Subject:
Re: [CAUT] Turbo wips



Hi Paul,

The most conservative/classic approach is to adjust the springs on 
the bench with stack off and hammers up so that the wippens are 
hanging level on the springs.  This creates a very even spring 
tension.  Then weigh off with key leads normally for an even balance. 
In this scenario the springs will be working 9-10grams at the 
touchweight measuring point.

Steinway Hamburg used this method in production for many years in the 
earlier part of the 20th century.  What weigh off chart are you 
referring to?

David Stanwood



>Hi All,
>
>I'm having a problem with an older set of Renner Turbo Wips.  I have 
>no idea how to get a consistant spring strength from note to note. 
> It's weighing off all over the place, but it doesn't seem 
>consistant with how the springs "feel".  With the stack off and 
>hammers out of the way, some wips rise way up with a neighboring wip 
>hardly rising at all, but they "feel" different in springyness and 
>the weigh off chart says they're very close.  All else is in good 
>regulation and pinning.  On the whole, it's weighing off a bit 
>lighter than the professor likes, and wondering if I should just get 
>rid of the assisting springs?
>
>What say you?
>
>Thanks
>Paul



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