<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> I aggree with this Wim. These questions should have reasonable answers, and they would be valuable to be able to put on the table when dealing with admin folks. I just put a brand new set of hammers on a Hamburg C in October. The instrument has been used on average 5 hours a week since then. Just two weeks ago I had no choice but to file down a bit as the grooves were 2 mm deep already. These were 1/2 high Strike Weights. We all throw in data like this to a central data base.. and those answers will reveal themselves. All we need is way of archiving the information so it is easy to arrange in meaninful ways. RicB Wimblees@aol.com wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE>IBean counters not withstanding, this is still a question I would like to have answered. Airplanes fly a certain number of hours before they are reconditioned and eventually put in the graveyard out in Arizona. We get a maintenance schedule for our cars. But what are some guidelines for pianos? How many "hours" of playing do a set of hammers get before needing to be replaced? How many times can we restring a piano in the original pin block. When does a soundboard need replacing? How many times can a piano be rebuilt, with a new soundboard and pin block and strings? Last year this subject was talked about briefly, but I don't think we ever got a definitive answer. I realize these are all questions with lots of answers, based on usage, climate control, budgets, etc. But this is the kind of information that would be useful, even to techs out in the field. Any one want to give some answers? Wim    </blockquote> -- Richard Brekne RPT, N.P.T.F. UiB, Bergen, Norway <A HREF="mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no">mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no</A> <A HREF="http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html">http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html</A> <A HREF="http://www.hf.uib.no/grieg/personer/cv_RB.html">http://www.hf.uib.no/grieg/personer/cv_RB.html</A>  </html>