----- Original Message ----- From: "David Love" <davidlovepianos@earthlink.net> To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: November 19, 2003 5:04 PM Subject: Creating an action from scratch > I'm entertaining the possibility of creating an action from scratch for a > 1909 Knabe--a technician seems to have disappeared with the action a few > years ago and has not been heard from since. I'm trying to get an idea how > to begin going about this. At first thought it seems like a rather > daunting task. Any suggestions, including readings, would be appreciated. > > > David Love > davidlovepianos@earthlink.net > It's not all that difficult, actually. I mean it's a lot of work, but nothing mysterious. Just what do you have? Are the cheekblocks intact? Is the keyslip present? How about the keyframe stopblock? Is the damper tray still in the piano? Is the piano strung or unstrung? You start by making a scalestick. Assume the hammer strike line starts about 3.5 mm aft of the V-bar at C-88. You should be able to figure out if the keylength was uniform or tapered by measuring the keybed. With this information you can lay a stick under the strings along the strikeline and mark off the unison centers. Once you have the scalestick marked off, you can drop a line (a plumbob) down and mark off the strikeline point on the keybed. This, along with the string elevation, should pretty much give you all you need. Contact me privately for more details. Del
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