from Keith McGavern: > Interestingly enough, I have never seen a rail cloth on the wippen > rail. Must be more to this hammer rail cloth than just the expansion and > contraction of the flange itself. Must be another purpose intended > altogether. Long ago (long enough I can't remember who), someone at Steinway told me it was to act as a shock absorber between the vibrating hammer shank and the rail, thereby reducing the noise transfer into the metal hammer rail. That's why it's not needed on the repetition rail -- the moving repetition doesn't create the kind of noise that the hammer/shank does. The cloth does make it a little easier to "cheat" the hammers into spacing, but I've found it better to cross-paper the spacing and not rely on forcing the flange, because while it takes longer, it holds up better. Bob Davis, RPT
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