<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <html><head><style type="text/css"></style><title>Re: [CAUT] a simple question</title></head><body> <div>Hello Paul,</div> <div><br></div> <div>I've found that you can work quite quickly when a suitable clearance is chosen for the hammer bore hole to shank diameter. It is also important to have the Titebond thickened so it sets up quickly.</div> <div><br></div> <div>I generally like about 4 to 5 thou hole clearance between the hammer core and the shank. I also like to roll the shanks prior to drilling the hammers, to make sure that they are all pretty much the same diameter. Even with new shanks there will be quite a deal of variation in the shank diameters. Knurling them will significantly reduce this variation. I also have a separate container to hold the Titebond we use for hammer hanging. I leave this with the lid off, stirring it regularly until it reaches the viscosity I want for hammer hanging. The combination of even shank diameters, appropriate hammer drilling diameter and nice thick Titebond allows me to hang one hammer, then check the one I've previously hung, to finalise its burning angle, head angle, strike point and tail position. I believe the alignment of the tails is just as important as the alignment of the hammers to the strike line (or curve). If the tails are all over the place it will result in significant hammer to hammer mass variation once the tails are shaped. I like the tails sitting in a nice line so that the tailing jig/disc sander takes the same amount off each tail. This makes the final job of balancing the hammer-set a much quicker operation (about 1.5 hours for me at this time).</div> <div><br></div> <div>An image of our tailing work and the spreadsheet that we use can be found at;</div> <div>http://members.optusnet.com.au/kristieovers/hmrtail.jpg</div> <div><br></div> <div>An image of a balanced hammer set at the bass/treble cross can be found at;</div> <div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-4" color="#000000" >http://members.optusnet.com.au/kristieovers/stmarysd9.jpg</font></div > <div><br></div> <div>The hammer in the foreground (D#19) was lightened 0.1 gram with the 2.5 mm hole in the core wood, while the hammer F21 has two lead wires inserted (1.7 mm diameter) which increased the hammer weight by 0.4 gram. Notice also that we've cut the hammer cove of the bass hammers deeper to reduce the mass difference between the bass and treble section hammers. This compensates somewhat for the longer (and therefore heavier) bass section hammer tails. These hammers were hung on a Hamburg D we rebuilt late last year. It turned out to be one of the most unsatisfactory rebuilding outcomes we have done in perhaps the last decade. The piano was fine, but the client . . .</div> <div><br></div> <div>For those who haven't seen the piano, other links to images can be found at;</div> <div><br></div> <div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-4" color="#000000" >http://members.optusnet.com.au/kristieovers/st.mary's1.jpg</font></div > <div><br></div> <div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-4" color="#000000" >http://members.optusnet.com.au/kristieovers/st.mary's2.jpg</font></div > <div><br></div> <div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-4" color="#000000" >http://members.optusnet.com.au/kristieovers/st.mary's3.jpg</font></div > <div><br></div> <div><font face="Lucida Grande" size="-4" color="#000000" >http://members.optusnet.com.au/kristieovers/st.mary's4.jpg</font></div > <div><br></div> <div>While I, and some of my colleagues here in Sydney including David Kinney and Geoffrey Pollard - the house technician from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, were most satisfied with the end result, the head piano teacher of the college decided that he didn't believe the piano 'sounded like a genuine Steinway' anymore. He also called in alleged experts who were not only by his account leading pianists, but were also Steinway owners. They apparently agreed with him. I told him that he really should give the piano a chance for the hammers to settle in. But like so many 'smart Alecs' who think they know everything, but have no experience with a fine set of cold pressed hammers, which admittedly don't knock your head off with their brightness when new, he continued to bully me over the matter. He even called in the local Steinway representative who pronounced that the hammers weren't genuine Steinway (of course, they were custom made by Abel - so what!), and furthermore he thought that they might have been a bit lighter than the standard hammers. Fortunately, having balanced the new hammer set, and having measured the original hammers as a reference, I was able to email a pdf file of the hammer weight spreadsheet to the college and the Steinway agent, which made a mockery of the claims of the Steinway agent. Its now 20 weeks since I did the final installation tuning and check over. Last week David Kinney tuned the piano again for the college. David told me that the piano has developed into a quite remarkable instrument. Still not one positive word from the teacher (I won't hold my breath waiting). Apparently David spent some time with him demonstrating the characteristics of the piano. I wonder if he was listening, or whether his eyes were glazed over as they seemed to be whenever I was speaking with him. You can tell how delighted I am about this. It upsets me to throw pearls before swine, especially when we are unable to negotiate a fair return for our work because we are looked down upon, as some sort of leper.</div> <div><br></div> <div>Ron O.</div> <div><br></div> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font size="-1">How long, when hanging hammers using titebond do you let it sit before going to the next section?  I'm going with 2 hours.  I like letting them sit over-night, but I only have one Sprulock jig and I'm trying to get this done quick. I'm thinking of getting a second jig to double the time (half the time)  What say you?</font><br> <br> <font size="-1">BTW; Whos going to Oberlin next week?  Let's hook up for a refreshment!</font><br> <br> <font size="-1">Thanks</font><br> <br> <font size="-1">Paul</font></blockquote> <div><br></div> <div><br></div> <x-sigsep><pre>-- </pre></x-sigsep> <div><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#0000FF"><b>OVERS PIANOS - SYDNEY</b></font></div> <div><font color="#000000"><i>   </i></font><font color="#0000FF"><i>Grand Piano Manufacturers</i></font><font color="#000000"><br> _______________________</font></div> <div><font size="-2" color="#000000"><br> </font><font color="#000000">Web http://overspianos.com.au</font></div> <div><font color="#000000">mailto:ron@overspianos.com.au<br> _______________________</font></div> </body> </html>