Pinning on new flanges

[Richard Brekne]

Grin... Ok Keith... its now

2 to the rest of the world... :)

Cheers
RicB

Sarah Fox wrote:

> Hi Ryan,
>  
> >I knew I'd get in trouble for my comments! : )
>  
> And indeed you did!  ;-)  Your preference for free-swinging hammers is 
> absolutely wrong-headed.  it flies in the face of what almost every 
> technician will tell you -- that friction is a *good* thing.
>  
> Having said that, I'll side with you and Horowitz on this one.  To me, 
> frictiony hammers are like a new pair of tennis shoes.  They're not 
> yet in their prime.  Surely we aren't the only ones who have this 
> bizarre preference.  However, it's a preference that is perhaps as 
> gauche as preferring a frosty glass of Coca Cola to a fine wine.  Me?  
> I'm Sarah Fox, and I'm a Cocaholic. 
>  
> In this world, people are all too timid to state their preferences -- 
> all too prepared to be told they are wrong.  These are the same people 
> who accept that this or that cannot be done.  I guess I learned long 
> ago not to listen to people who told me I was foolish or wrong.  
> Learning to listen to myself and regard my own thoughts as valid is 
> the single, most important factor underlying what successes I have had 
> in my life.  (How else would a dyslexic, ADD kid who was identified in 
> the first grade as mentally retarded go on to get her Ph.D. and make a 
> few contributions to the field of theoretical bioacoustics that 
> everyone told her were theoretically impossible?)  I would suggest the 
> same thing was true for one very celebrated (but wrongheaded) Russian 
> pianist, not to mention other notables, such as a wacko German 
> physicist, also "mentally retarded," who changed the way we look at 
> the universe.  I'm am grateful that there are at least a few people 
> who don't listen when others tell them they're wrong.
>  
> Rather than for others to harp on why you are wrong, it would be 
> wonderful if discussion were to center on overcoming the challenges, 
> if any, of a low-friction action -- or on what the tradeoffs are with 
> other parameters of the action.

Sarah... read my last paragraph... I open up for exactly that.  I do 
question the <<scientific basis>> ryan opened up with tho.  Thats 
quantifiable... so lets see the quantities documented before we stated 
they are or are not. so.

>  
> Finally, you are quite right about the difference between "free" and 
> "loose."  If you were to equip those hammer shanks with high-quality 
> ceramic bearings, they would be both rock-solid and slippery-free.  
> Perhaps Steinway wasn't entirely on the wrong track with their teflon 
> bushings.  Perhaps it was simply a good idea, poorly implemented, and 
> ahead of its time.  I wonder if we shouldn't give it another go -- 
> this time with teflon-lined carbon fiber flanges and shanks?

They are on that track today as well, with very low friction levels in 
their hammershank flanges    At least in New York they operate this 
way.  Hamburg is more traditional.

>  
> Yours in peace and heresy,
> Sarah
>  

Cheers
RicB

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