Spring behavior

[Isaac OLEG]

Ed, thanks for the info,

My bet is that grease is not the same as Teflon, in an engine there
are places for grease and places for oil, places for slow lubes and
fast lubes.

The idea is that grease is a slow lube, and I am still not sure it may
be replaced anyway when the action is not old.

I use Vaseline mixed with Teflon as a replacement lube for these
parts.

Yes spring regulation is easier with a dry lube in the slot, but that
makes sense to me not to have a too fast spring on the lever, while
having a fast one on the jack.
We don't need the balancier to push fast the hammer upward, but to
lighten it while the jack take its place.
As usual, I bet it can be heard in the tone when we change from one
lube to the other.

Of course the Teflon screw whippen are very stable, but the feel of
the butterfly springs is way more efficient and I prefer the touch
obtained with these whippen (clear touch more easy to obtain).

Again, with these whippen, the spring is less fast than with butterfly
springs

With best regards.

Isaac OLEG


> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : A440A@aol.com [mailto:A440A@aol.com]
> Envoye : mardi 22 octobre 2002 13:33
> A : oleg-i@wanadoo.fr
> Objet : Re: Spring behavior
>
>
>  oleg  writes:
>
> >So who will give us a good explanation on why this grease
> is used yet
> >originally.
>
> Greetings,
>    The original, and continuing reason, is to reduce the
> friction in the
> grub.  The graphite paste that was in use pre-1900 seemed
> to have used
> tallow, and it is not uncommon to see verdigris on the
> springs.  Later models
> sometimes have it, sometimes don't.
>    In the 1960's, the grub was coated with the synthetic
> green Teflon based
> stuff, but it wears through very quickly.  This period also
> seems to have
> softer maple wood used in the action parts, and as the
> spring wears an ever
> deepening groove into the underside of the balancier, it
> increases its
> contact area to include the sides as well as the top of the
> spring.  When
> this problem is coupled with the sideways bend in the
> spring,(which results
> from them being set in the factory from the proximal side
> of the action),
> the friction in these pianos gets high enough to make
> setting the spring, and
> all other adjustments that depend on them, difficult.  If
> one must regulate a
> small Teflon action as is, it helps a lot to straighten the springs
> laterally, and apply a dab of graphite paste to their
> contact point.
>    The major benefit of the Renner whippens is that their
> teflon adjustment
> screw provides a VERY long lasting spring regulation. ( I
> have numerous
> actions at the school where the spring adj. has been stable
> for years).
> Regards,
> Ed Foote RPT
>