repinning hammer flanges

[Greg & Mary Ellen Newell]

On Sat, 25 May 1996 22:52:13 -0600 (MDT), Larry Fisher wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>About a year and a half ago I repinned a set of hammer flanges on a Kawai
>grand (approx 20 yrs old)  for a teacher.  She uses the piano extensively
>for herself as well as her students and likes the feel of the action when I
>pinned all the flanges at ..... "3 swings"   ..... for lack of a better
>measurement.  She had some heavy moisture problems last February when we had
>a deluge of rain and her backyard was clay soup, the underside of her house
>was a murky soupy mess and the room that the piano was kept in had
>excessively high humidity........ her remark was "the keys were sweating"
>indicating that moisture had condensated on the keytops.  After that was
>when she noticed the feel of the tight pinning was gone and I was just there
>today and indeed she's right.  I got 10 swings or better randomly picking
>hammers in the middle of the keyboard.  The upper end had 5 to 7 swings
>depending on how high up I went.  I repinned one note for her at 3 swings
>and she claimed that's the feel she wants back.
>
>I've pretty much deciphered what kind of feel she wants.  The action is in
>really good regulation, and the key bushings are very snug.  She liked the
>feel of the action last time I did this, and so I've got to obtain that feel
>again for her.   She dislikes the way the keys bounce on a fast return,
>affecting repetition.  Tight hammer flanges minimizes this, since the hammer
>doesn't bounce as much.
>
>My queery.......
>
>Did the high humidity cause this problem?  If so, how?  (yes she has insurance)
>
>Why didn't the Yamaha MX100, in the same room, suffer the same problem?  [I
>didn't check it but she claims it plays better than the Kawai grand at the
>moment]
>
>How long is repinning hammer flanges supposed to last?  This piano probably
>gets the same traffic on it as a piano in a practice room, or a concert stage.
>
>Is there another way any of you would suggest to minimize key/hammer bounce
>on fast release?
>
>Gracias ustedes todos.  (thanks y'all)
>
>Lar
>
>                           Larry Fisher RPT, Metro Portland, Oregon's
>                  Factory Preferred Installer for MSR/PianoDisc Products
>                       phone 360-256-2999 or email larryf@pacifier.com
>                            http://pacifier.com/~larryf/homepage.html
>                         Beau Dahnker pianos work best under water
>
did you take apart any of the now loose flanges? I'm wondering where
the loosness is now. I would expect that you may have some loose
birdeyes. It may be worth a check.
            Greg
Greg & Mary Ellen Newell
Greg's Piano Forte'
12970 Harlon Ave.
Lakewood, OH 44107

e-mail;
gnewell@en.com    or
dt945@cleveland.freenet.edu