<div>Fred,</div> <div>One thing I tried when the screw had bit into the wire too much and it wouldn't stay where I wanted was to pull the damper and run a file across the bad spot. It suddenly becomes obvious; I mean the bad spot highlights itself. Sometimes you might want to dress the end of the screw. It can have a cam like action or edge that cuts into the wire and twists the wire as the screw is tightened. </div> <div> </div> <div>Keith Roberts </div> <div> </div> <div><br> </div> <div><span class="gmail_quote">On 3/24/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">Fred Sturm</b> <<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:fssturm@unm.edu" target="_blank">fssturm@unm.edu</a>> wrote: </span> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">Hi Ric,<br>   Yes, I've fooled with a bean bag. Actually made myself one and put a bit<br>of sand in it instead of beans, though you want to go thin and light with <br>sand (it can get so heavy it will compress the felt too much, and force the<br>trichords down farther than they will normally seat). But sand set the bag<br>more inertly and evenly on the damper heads, to my way of thinking. <br>   Bottom line, though, I decided I didn't like it. It _seems_ like it<br>would give more even control, but it doesn't, at least at a fine level.<br>Better to just deal with the actual weight of the dampers, and sensitive <br>fingertips. If you have all the wires loose, and all the levers resting on<br>the tray or jig, just tightening them with a light touch where they lie<br>gives me as good a starting point as with the bag on top, better most often. <br>   Kawai techs have a technique similar to Yamahas (though I think the<br>capstans are on the tray - I don't do enough to remember between all the<br>Asian variants), but they do use them after that initial straightedge set up <br>for minor tweaking. We're talking up to a quarter turn, probably less. Which<br>is far more efficient than loosening the screw, moving the damper wire that<br>miniscule little bit, tightening, the having to twist/align, then find you <br>moved a wee bit too much or not enough, repeat. If the wires are new and the<br>screws haven't been over-tightened by somebody, it goes pretty well, but if<br>there are dents and bends from the screw, well, many's the time I wish there <br>was a capstan to turn for that last bit.<br>Regards,<br>Fred Sturm<br>University of New Mexico<br><br><br>On 3/24/07 7:10 PM, "RicB" <<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:ricb@pianostemmer.no" target="_blank"> ricb@pianostemmer.no</a>> wrote: <br><br>> Hi Fred..<br>><br>> Yes. Getting the levers at even height is the immediate goal here (what<br>> you refer to below).  That and making sure this height yields proper key <br>> lift timing.  We used their aluminum straight edge tool for key leveling <br>> on the underside of the levers to get a straight line, adjusting<br>> capstans as necessary. But whatever gets you there...  BTW the Spurlock <br>> bean bag idea looks kinda interesting... has anyone tried one of these ? <br>><br>> Cheers<br>> RicB<br>><br>><br>>    But I think I now see that what you do is set samples (only tightening<br>>   those wires, the others all being loose), then raise the lift tray <br>>   to meet <br>>   the samples (and block it in place), then adjust all the other capstans,<br>>   which are resting on the lift tray, so that the bottoms of the<br>>   underlevers<br>>   are in line with the straightedge (the capstans are raising - or <br>>   lowering -<br>>   their respective levers to be in line, with the lift tray as the<br>>   "gauge" or<br>>   base, and the samples as the reference). Now you tighten all the other<br>>   wires, and proceed with standard twisting, tweaking and whatnot. <br>><br>><br><br></blockquote></div><br>