John, Yes, Steinway did install a solid felt knuckle on, apparently, a very few actions. From what little I have been able to learn about these over the years, this was a relatively short-lived test run as part of their response to the ongoing shortage of buckskin at the time. I also have encountered these knuckles over the years and was quite favorably impressed with them. They seemed to work quite well in practice, showing very little wear and holding regulation well. Properly lubricated (in those days I simply used a dry Teflon spray) they did not have excessive friction. There were no abnormal noises or squeaks. (I must point out, however, none of those I have seen were heavily used.) Every time this subject comes up I encounter much of the all to common knee-jerk criticism and condemnation of this knuckle, but so far I have not been able to find out just what is so bad about them. I keep asking those who are most critical of them to expand on what they have found to be so bad about them in practice and performance, but so far I've not learned much. Indeed, on questioning several technicians I came across a while back who were most vocal in their criticism, I ultimately learned that they had never actually even seen any of these knuckles, let alone worked with them, but they were still quite convinced that an all-felt knuckle was a Really Bad Thing. So, the bottom line... what are these things like now? Do you know anything of their service history? How much use have they received? How is their shape? How have they worn over the years? Are they noisy? Do they squeak? In other words, from what you can see now -- how have they worked over the years and can you compare their service to the leather covered knuckles on the same action? What a wonderful opportunity to learn something! I'm looking forward to anything you can tell us about these knuckles. Regards, Del ------------------------------------------------------------------ ----- Original Message ----- From: "John R Fortiner" <pianoserv440@juno.com> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: September 28, 2000 8:28 PM Subject: felt knuckles???? > List: I was servicing an older S&S "L" today and had to pull the action. > About 1/2 of the shanks had knuckles that were felt ONLY - no buckskin. > Did Steinway ever use that style of knuckle?? > If not where did they come from?? > btw the all felt knuckles are quite a bit larger in diameter than the > ones with buckskin coverings and seem to have a lot more jack to knuckle > friction than the ones with buckskin. > > John R. Fortiner > Billings, MT. > ________________________________________________________________ > YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! > Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! > Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: > http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.
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