? Hi All ? I've put this off for along time & others thought I should post this. ? Ok, true confessions. I've never set key dip with a dip block. I found them?difficult to read but that's me. I'm sure many have used them successfully. ? For 36 years I have used a simple gauge designed by my Dad. It is a .370 dia rod attached to an 1/8 th inch handle. To measure the dip the gauge is inserted between the bottom of the key & the front rail punching. The slot in the front of the gauge fits up against the pin & insure the same spot is measured on each key. ?? It's cool.?It is a go, no go visual device. If the dip is too shallow the key will rise. An Immediate visual. If dip is too deep the key will make a tapping sound when drummed with the finger on th top. Which means the key bottom?is tapping on the gauge. ??? Since I work on many Steinways?I like a .390 dip & with a 1 3/4"?hammer blow distance.?The?gauge measures?the gap right in front of the key pin.?Or when playing the note the finger is routinely touching the key directly over the spot where the gauge is underneath. I like this idea & have found it too work dependably ?To achieve a .390 dip,?simply insert the gauge?& tap?the top of the key with your?finger. The tap sound is the key moving &?tapping against the gauge. ? So? if the gauge is .370?& .390 is the dip goal, the key will move .020.? So .370?Plus .020= .390. The accurate measurement is easily confirmed by placing?a .020 paper punching on top of the felt front rail punching ,re-inserting the gauge. No tapping or key rise should be noticed. With use it is easy to determine from the tap tap when the gauge is reading .390. or whatever. ? The other really beautiful thing a bout this gauge?is that sharp dip, which can be frustrating to measure uniformly,?can be measured zzzactly the same way & the gauge doesn't lie.? SO easy. It just slip between the front rail pins & up against the sharp pin. tap tap?tap or watch the key rise. Same deal. ? An optional way of doing?checking the measurement?is to wrap a bit of tape around?each end of each end of the gauges .370 barrel?till .390 is measured with a mic. or calipers.?If?a deeper dip desired, add more tape. ? I showed this to the Roger Jolly & Norman Neblett at Cal State & Roger said in his Scottish brogue. "Well Dael, thas a neew one on meh" Norman thought it was great idea. I was pleased of course. Any way make your own or?post me off list, ?? we?still have some left from the last production run for Cal State,?complete with pictures & instructions. ??? Dale Erwin ?? ? [Image Removed] [Image Removed] [Image Removed] [Image Removed] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090227/203d6f4d/attachment-0001.html> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Erwins_dip_gauge_2.JPG Type: image/pjpeg Size: 91955 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090227/203d6f4d/attachment-0002.bin> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Erwin_dip_gauge_1.JPG Type: image/pjpeg Size: 90481 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090227/203d6f4d/attachment-0003.bin>
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