I'm not sure I would ever straighten a sloping capstan. Steinway did that for a reason. The sloping capstan matched with a sloping whippen heel yields zero friction between the two. That is because they roll on each other due to the matching involute(?) curves rather than the capstan sliding against the whippen heel as it rises. This was explicated beautifully by Chris Robinson many years ago at a convention class I attended. At the time replacement whippens from Steinway with the sloped heel were unavailable and Chris was cutting his heels to get it. Later Steinway again began offering the original type heels for rebuilds on older instruments I believe. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jonno Clarke" <jonnotune@hotmail.com> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Friday, June 27, 2003 12:07 PM Subject: older steinway grands I wonder if anyone can help me with the question of what to do about older Steinway grand actions, the type that have the sloping back capstans. I always find that when fitting new (Abel) hammers to these pianos that the touch becomes rather on the heavy side - would it help to remove the capstans fill the keys and re-tap and then fit the capstans like on newer pianos ?. The client doesnt want to fit new whippens and the be fair there is really nothing wrong with the old ones. The problem is that the hammers are worn out and need replacing. Help please ! _________________________________________________________________ Stay in touch with absent friends - get MSN Messenger http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger _______________________________________________ pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
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