teflon lube

[John Musselwhite]

>>Keith, generally most of the centers seem to be to tight causing a
sluggishness
>>in the action. Most of the hammer shanks swing from 3-5 times, using that
test.

If I may make a suggestion, invest in a tension gauge to check the tightness
of the pinning rather than relying on the swing test. I have a fairly cheap
one from Pianotech and it works reasonably well although I prefer the dial
type.

>>I haven't worked on the piano yet, the artist would rather replace with felt,

I've heard artists say that teflon disconnects them from the natural feel,
but I've yet to encounter one that could actually tell well-regulated teflon
from felt (although they're probably out there).

>>but the cost is too much for him so I was searching for a solution to make the
>>action feel better without getting into a whole lot of reaming and repinning.

"A whole lot" isn't that much, really. It only takes a few hours at most to
do all the hammer flanges and the results are well worth it. Just make sure
you use Steinway pre-finished centre pins and have spare teflon bushings
handy when you do it. With the proper tools and parts the work goes
relatively quickly and instead of costing the customer a few thousand
dollars it will only be a couple of hundred. While you're at it, clean up
the knuckles and rub Microfine teflon powder into them and your customer
won't care whether the bushings are teflon or not.

>   Just one comment. If you're going to do all the repinning anyway, be
>sure and check the other parts for tightness also. The wippen flanges may
>also be too tight. It can make a lot of difference in the feel.

The repetition (there are no "wippens" in a Steinway) flanges may also be
too tight, but the rep lever itself is often too loose and it SHOULD be
relatively tight. Check them all, and use a gauge!  B-})

                John

John Musselwhite, RPT
Calgary, Alberta Canada
musselj@cadvision.com