MEASURING STRIKE WEIGHT

[stanwood]

MEASURING STRIKE WEIGHT

*Strike weight is the amount of weight that hits the string.  (lay definition)
 It is the hammer weight plus the weight of the shank taken at the strike
line radius.

1.Remove the shank from the rail
2.place a hard felt wedge on the pan of a digital scale
  and tare to zero.
3.Place the striking surface of the hammer face down on
  the felt wedge such that the strike line of the hammer
  is resting on the knife edge of the felt wedge
4.Tip up the flange so that it is oriented vertically,
5.Rest the bottom end of the flange on a roller bearing
  such that the axis of the roller bearing is aligned
  vertically with the axis of the center pin, with the
  shank perfectly horizontal.
6.The resulting scale reading indicates the strike weight.

*********************************

I offer the following range guidelines for strike weight
These ranges are the result of 4 years of survey and analysis of piano actions.

The primary touchweight studies were carried out by myself
and the following technicians:

Russell Gordon RPT
Tony McKenna, Belmont Mass
Bill Ballard RPT
John Foy RPT

                 STRIKE WEIGHT RANGE GUIDELINES:

Note    1         22          44          66          88


       14.8-------13.7-------12.1--------9.8---------6.9
                 F U L L       T O N A L    E N E R G Y
       12.4-------11.5-------10.2--------8.3---------5.8
                 M E D I U M   T O N A L   E N E R G Y
       10.3--------9.5--------8.4--------6.7---------4.6
                 L O W         T O N A L   E N E R G Y
        8.0--------7.4--------6.5--------5.2---------3.5


Respectfully Submitted,


            David C. Stanwood