At 12:33 -0400 20/4/10, Mike Morvan wrote:
> I have not seen any maple used on vintage Steinways, they did have caps
>on the top of the key and shoes on the bottoms of some models as you stated,
>but the ones I have seen were all basswood. Basswood is harder than
>sugarpine or spruce and is a hardwood, but a soft one at that.
Ah basswood. Yes, a lot of English pianos had the keys entirely of
basswood, which I believe came from Canada and was considered
superior to lime, which has a tendency to warp. As I've said, the
keys on Kirkmans are, I think, of lime and do not warp. Although
lime is harder than basswood they still found it preferable to make
an insert of harder wood for the balance hole. I thought it was
maple but it may be hornbeam --I'll take a closer look. I took some
pictures today but left the camera at the workshop. You will be
interested to see them.
>Good luck, balance holes are tricky to replace. Please be aware that
>several of the methods of fixing balance holes that are available as kits
>and some of the shimming methods mentioned, all fail to take into
>consideration where the balance hole was originally. If the original
>location of the balance hole is not determined prior to some type of repair,
>than the key position can be off in relation to the pins and neighboring
>keys. This will be visible and have regulation consequences.
The great advantage of the tool Bruce mentioned is that it preserves
the position of the original hole perfectly. The central guide
pressed tightly into the hole so that the washer is centred
accurately even in ovalized holes and there is no wobble.
JD
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