S and S K52

[Lance Lafargue]

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Hey Carl,
I have two of those I'm working on.  My opinion.... Jack should drop of it's
own weight.  The factory spec should be ignored and compromises should be
made to make the piano play as good as possible, so,  blow distance, dip,
key height can be changed within reason to maximize feel and response.  I
usually use the PTG spec book to get the key height close, blow close, dip
close and see what it gives me, then I modify one or all to get the best rep
and feel, etc.  Of course there is a point where any of the three can be
changed too much.  Hammers must be of similar weight/width to originals.
I've ordered the Steinway felt before.  Always very nice, but expensive.
You will have to modify anything you buy.  Strips of Yamaha felt is very
good to cut to fit.  You can add backing (comes with it) to get the right
size/thickness.  Good luck.

PS
there was an article in the Journal a year or three ago about rescaling that
piano.  I was going to reread it before stringing.  I remember doubles at
the break were switched to tri's or vs vs.
Lance Lafargue, RPT
Mandeville, LA
New Orleans Chapter, PTG
lancelafargue@bellsouth.net



  -----Original Message-----
  From: owner-pianotech@ptg.org [mailto:owner-pianotech@ptg.org]On Behalf Of
Meyer Carl
  Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 1:03 AM
  To: pianotech@ptg.org
  Subject: S and S K52


  List:

  I'm presently working on a 1909 S&S K52.  It was professionally
refinished.  I've so far replaced the keytops, rescaled with PSCALE, and
restrung using wound strings on the first 5 notes above the bass break.

  Prior to stringing I lowered the plate w/o removing it by using a saber
saw to take the thickness or height of the dowels down by one saw kerf. As
the screws rose toward the treble side I used progressively thinner blades
(some by hand for accessability).  Along the bottom I used more than one
kerf as required to get the downbearing I wanted.  I found I had to remove
most of the screws completely and lube with bees wax in order to pull them
down.  Rust and corrosion made them just too tight to move.  This worked
rather well.  I cleaned the bridge by clamping a brass brush to the blade of
an electric carving knife. The brass brush was about the size of a
toothbrush.  Then by sections I warmed the bridge with a hair drier and
applied Epotec 301 epoxy to all the pins. I then rewarmed with the hair
drier to help penetration of the epoxy.  Since that is slow setting stuff, I
waited awhile and then removed the excess by brushing the whole bridge with
a dry paint brush, wiping the brush often.  I ended up with a nice looking
bridge with a coating of epoxy on it.  Might not look good enough for a
grand, but looks okay.  After overnight cure, The surface seemed a bit
tacky, so I sprinkled talc on  it and brushed it in and then blew off the
excess with my air hose.  That worked pretty good considering it didn't take
long at all except for the cure time.

  So now, I'm starting to regulate and replace the dampers.  Hammers are
decent but not original.
  I now have several questions, since I'm not one who (only works on
Steinways), actually seldom do.

  In the piano action handbook it calls for .4 inches dip.  I see specs
that vary for dip and I've thought that since the dip is the first interface
between the performer and the instrument it would seem that uniform dip from
piano to piano would be desirable. In most cases regulation can compensate
for different dips, so a uniform dip could be used.  I'm not a player so
perhaps I don't have a feel for this. Anybody have any strong opinions on
this?  How sacred is following the manufacturing specs regarding dip?

  I found that repetition was poor in the high treble.  I found action
centers were a bit tight especially the jack.  After water and alky, protec
and the zapper, it repeats better, but key 88 has a chunk of lead in it and
the dowel capstan pushes up about14 grams.  Now the weight of the whippen is
not much more than that, so if there is some lost motion then the whippen
may not even push the key down beyond the lost motion and that will produce
a key leveling problem.
  Question:  What is the criteria for jack tightness?
  A gram gauge at the end of the jack should read no more that what?
  Question:  Should I remove lead to get better repetion and have better up
weight and down weight?  Or am I missing something?

  Last question:  The dampers of S&S uprights as well as Mason and Hamlin
are very different than most uprights.  The felt between the block and the
popsicle stick is much thicker than standard supply house dampers. They have
the popsicle sticks in the center section as well.  What do you do to
replace those?  Steinway has a set of dampers in their price list for 121
dollars, and I don't even know what they consist of.  Anybody use them, or
do you just adapt standard dampers?

  Comments anybody?  Thanks in advance!!!

  Carl Meyer





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