hammer "throw" on hard blow

[gordon stelter]

I just had to deal with too much gap between the
"birdseye" on hammer shanks, and the "ears" on some
replacement flanges sent to me for this 1870's
Chickering "Brown" action. ( In this action, the
"birdseye" and "ears" are on the opposite pieces, as
from modern pianos ). 
  As more replacement parts were not available, I
dealt with it by making tiny Mylar washers to fit on
either side of the center pin, between the ears. I
punched them out with a small Tandy punch ( about 1/4"
) available from a "Michael's Crafts" chain store. The
smallest die ona  revolving pliers-type punch then out
the hole in the middle. Not fun, but very effective.
     Thump


--- J Patrick Draine <draine@comcast.net> wrote:

> David,
> Could a so far unexamined factor be the fit between
> the birdseye and  
> the "arms" (or are they ears?) of the flange -- too
> much gap may  
> promote the wobble you're noticing?
> Also, while you repinned to increase the friction to
> 2 swings, is the  
> bushing itself firm or soft? If soft, this may be
> allowing the hammer  
> to wobble.
> These aren't "answers", just tentative hypotheses.
> Patrick Draine
> 
> On Sep 2, 2005, at 2:42 AM, David Nereson wrote:
> 
> >
> >    I checked the pinning very carefully since that
> was the most  
> > likely suspect.  I purposely re-pinned the thing
> very tight (2  
> > swings), and clamped the flange in a vise first to
> check for any  
> > wobble or pin movement.  I check the feel of the
> center pin in each  
> > bushing individually, just feeling for equal
> resistance when  
> > pushing the pin in.  The pin is definitely tight
> in the  
> > birdseye.     I'll have to check for off-center
> boring again.  I  
> > can see where on the angled hammers, more weight
> could end up on  
> > one side of the shank than the other, but when
> straight-bored  
> > hammers shake laterally after impact, that's
> what's puzzling.
> 
> Is the hammer properly aligned to all three strings?
> Might some of  
> the strings be out of level? Is the striking surface
> of the hammer  
> perfectly mated to the strings?
> Or are we both being a bit obsessive? A slight
> post-impact shake or  
> wobble might not be the end of the world!
> 
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> 



		
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