non-returning keys

[David Nereson]

            When the action parts aren’t heavy enough to make
the keys fully return, and key bushings and friction are OK,
what can you do besides weight the keys? (or the wippens?)  I
run into this in many inexpensive consoles, and sometimes even
in better makes.   Repetition is terrible and you can’t remove
all the lost motion because the jack won’t get back under the
butt.  Why?  Because the key doesn’t return all the way  -- and
not from worn or tight key bushings but because the portion of
key in front of the balance pin is heavier than the rear portion
of the key plus the weight of the action parts.   And no, the
jack center pins aren’t too tight.  It’s just poor design.
I suppose one could drill a buncha holes through the keys in the
front portion of the key, to lighten it, but that would weaken
the key and not be reversible, or kosher.
            I’ll have to look again to see if there’s room to
add Jiffy weights on the bottom of the keys.  If you add them to
the top, you block access to the capstan screw, although it’s
already poor access  -- this is a Wurtilizer with those wippens
that extend way forward of the capstans, plus the keys are
tapered in the vertical plane from the balance pin back to the
capstan area.  Tapered so much that I doubt they’re tall enough
to get a traditional key lead in there.  Maybe the small ones.
            What do you use to swage the traditional type of key
leads with?  (the cylindrical, or slightly conical ones)
            --David Nereson, RPT
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