But haven't these hammers been filed quite a bit? How would one estimate where they were originally, as far as over-striking? David Ilvedson, RPT Pacifica, CA 94044 ----- Original message ---------------------------------------- From: "Ric Brekne" <ricbrek at broadpark.no> To: "Andrew and Rebeca Anderson" <anrebe at sbcglobal.net>, pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org> Received: 10/16/2006 12:06:33 PM Subject: Re: S&S D with high strings/low action stack >Hi again >Well it looks like our (actually you had it all along) origional call on >this was the right one. Nice one. >As far as solutions go... Its all well and fine that Steinway sends you >some shims to raise the action... this will get you a ways down the road >to be sure. But it sounds like the guy from the service department out >and out admits a production fault concerning the plate height to begin >with. Ok... he gives 7&7/8's as a max and you say you are perhaps at >8... but.... hey.... That coupled with the symptoms you give clearly >show the piano left the factory with a problem that should have been >corrected.... at least it looks pretty clear from hear :) Couple in >also that he is recommending a new set of hammers with a custom >bore..... wellllllll.. >If the piano is under warranty then I think you have a good case... >I dont know how hard you want to press this given your situation there. >Perhaps it might be easier to just shim and put on a new set of hammers >in the end. Whose paying for all the effort and parts then ?? You say >he reccommends <<buying>> a set of hammers ??... on a warranty piano ?? >Something sounds a bit off the proverbial wall here. >In any case... I'd shim the stack whatever you need / can get, hang a >new set of hammers, leave the keyframe as is... and send S&S the bill :) >Cheers >RicB >Andrew and Rebeca Anderson wrote: >> Continuing saga: >> I spoke with a Steinway technician in the service department this >> morning (name slips me) and have the following solution(s) recommended, >> He is sending 1/16" walnut shims cut to fit under the action feet >> and raise the action by that much, I'll have to re-time the checking >> & reset let-off >> he recommends buying the un-bored Steinway hammers and custom >> boring them to take up some of the over-striking difference >> (my measurements on the existing hammers suggest that they >> have been over-filed already by 1/8 -3/16" so my high grit >> polishing isn't the first time this has been done.) >> We discussed string height and he gave one specification: note 66 is >> to be 7&3/4" +/- 1/8" above the key-bed. I pointed out that my >> measurements put this area very close to 8". He became a little >> defensive and said that fixing this would require rebuilding the piano >> and that Steinway wasn't going to do this (I had mentioned the piano >> was still under warranty). I then asked him about Steinway policy >> regarding over-striking. He plainly said that the hammers shouldn't >> overstrike. Of-course they all do now by significantly more than the >> amount they have been filed under standard bore and most likely were >> by a significant amount when the piano was new. >> I mentioned checking and capsizing problems with too short hammer >> tails too far above the action and he didn't have much to add other >> than that shimming the action by 1/16 should help with the capsizing. >> He couldn't get me stats on the size of the un-bored hammers. I'm >> guessing they are the same size as the bored ones and I'm not too >> enthusiastic about boring those much lower on the tail. Custom >> hammers by another hammer maker may be the better way to go, but than >> there is the Steinway Only politics to deal with... >> >> So, my solution is drifting towards this: >> Shim the key-frame 1/16" >> Shim the action stack 1/16" >> Recommend new hammers (really this should be a warranty item too, >> there is significant labor in this) >> This gets me a third of the way with adequate clearance at the >> fall-board and 1/16" clearance at the pinblock with the drop screws >> backed all the way out. Taller hammers will drag going in and out and >> I'll have to watch that (had a mishap on a Chinese-made piano >> yesterday). By shimming both I reduce the problem to the neighborhood >> of 1/16" so a lower bore won't be so worrisome. >> >> Do any of you have more to add? >> >> Andrew Anderson, Artisan Piano >> >> >> >>
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