Something other than lead? was Re: Stephen...Two Remedies to correct a light action

[piannaman at aol.com]

One thing that I'm quite pleased with in the new Kawai pianos is the use of stainless steel for weighting keys.  I'm hoping that there will be an aftermarket version of something similar available soon.  Lead is nasty stuff.  It would be a good solution if longterm exposure to it wasn't hazardous.
 
I did some damper timing changes in the other direction on a grand piano awhile back and was taken to task on this list...  Ya live and ya learn, hopefully.  I set the keys to lift the dampers later in order to change the perception of the touchweight.  Worked okay, but for many reasons, it's not an ideal solution.  As many said at that time, there is "fudge factor" room, but drastic alterations aren't generally recommended.
 
Dave Stahl




-----Original Message-----
From: ricb at pianostemmer.no
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Sent: Fri, 1 Dec 2006 8:30 AM
Subject: Stephen...Two Remedies to correct a light action


Hello Steve.  
To begin with, there are no good bypasses to decent piano work. As Julia learned from her early experiences with school... taping nuts and bolts to action parts isnt really a good idea. 
 
But upright actions that are too light. Assuming you have a beautiful regulation and indeed need to change the touchweight, it is actually quite easy and fast to simply re weigh-off the keys. If thats too much work for you, and you need something quicker you can screw lead weights made for this express purpose between the capstan and balance rail pin. I'm not a particular fan of these... but at least they work reasonably well and are fully reversible... if reversibility is what you want. If you are looking for some kind of a clip-on solution for diagnostics like Stanwood suggests for grand hammer shanks, then you can use appropriate sized shot lead pinched tightly onto the base of the backcheck wire. Clip-on solutions are not IMHO a good idea to use as more then very temporary use. 
 
Regulation tricks should be well discussed by now, as is just how much one can accomplish that way. Too light a weight on the capstan cant really be changed any other way then by either decreasing the keys front weight or adding weight to the top action itself somewhere. Pretty much just like in a grand. 
 
Cheers 
RicB 
 
  Hey Now, 
 
  So tell us Ric... what are the quick easy ways to correct an action 
  (upright), that is too light. 
 
  Thanks in advance for any suggestions. 
 
  Steve 
 
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