Hammer "Coving"

Joe Garrett joegarrett@earthlink.net
Sat, 21 Aug 2004 17:35:32 -0700


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Jon Page said: " Is there a reason for this cove? Other than to reduce =
weight,
> would it per chance reduce impact noise into the backcheck?
> Have some magical effect on tone production?
>
> I have hung a set which have a nice SW (1/2 medium),
> I'm wondering if any flack would be taken other than
> for a non-traditional application.
>
> The amount of material removed by coving is about a third of a gram
> which relates to less than 2 g's at the key front. Hardly worth the=20
> effort.
>
> Anyway, I was just wondering what the general consensus might be
> before I get the action back to the piano later this week"

Jon,
I have several sized jigs for cutting the cove(s). I've never been happy =
with the cove choice of most hammer manufacturers and prefer to do my =
own. It takes about a half hour to do this, so no biggie there.<G> On =
some of the weird stuff I work on the hammer length/moulding size, etc. =
is not completely available. On really olde Steinway Uprights, they =
actually coved the underside of the upper treble hammers to reduce mass =
and get a more ringing tone. I've experiment, in this instance, and have =
found that this is the true issue they were addressing.
I'd say, if the piano sounds fine, especially in the upper treble and =
the touch is within acceptable limits, I wouldn't worry about it. =
Because I bore all my hammers, myself, coving has just become part of my =
procedure of prepping the hammers for installation. Mileage may vary.<G>
BTW, the Jigs are easy to make and use. The trick is to use a Forstner =
Bit, (the real one(s), not the Chinese knock-offs!)! Of course, this =
means you have to learn how to sharpen them puppies, (which ain't fun!), =
to get a consistant cut. Another one of them "woodworking" thingees that =
are basically therapeutic.<G>
Best Regards,
Joe Garrett, R.P.T.
Captain, Tool Police
Squares R I
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