[pianotech] Guess which pin...

[Laura Olsen]

Rob,
Can't you just pick up the entire action and swing all the hammers and see which ones return slowly and then do the same with the wips  (you might have to disengage the bridal straps) and then set the action down and trip the jacks with your finger?  Mark the offenders with chalk.

Am I missing something?

Laura Olsen
Barrington, IL

On Jul 31, 2011, at 3:25 AM, tnrwim at aol.com wrote:

> Rob
>  
> I have found that a rule of thumb for ALL '70 - '90 era Kimball consoles is to replace ALL the center pins, hammers, jacks and wippens, regardless of which pins seem to need it. And even then, I've found that after replacing the pins, and making sure the centers were free, a year or two later, some of the centers tighten up again. Especially in humid weather.
>  
> Perhaps the problem might be in the felt used in the bushings, and the best way to solve the problem is to replace the parts, instead of just repinning them. But that would make it almost cost prohibitive.
>  
> Wim Blees RPT
> Hawaii
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rob McCall <rob at mccallpiano.com>
> To: pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org>
> Sent: Sat, Jul 30, 2011 8:35 pm
> Subject: [pianotech] Guess which pin...
> 
> Greetings,
> 
> I have a 1982 Kimball Console action in my shop. Many of the keys were sticking 
> in the piano.  Looking at it in the piano, the problem didn't appear to be the 
> keys, at all. It was definitely in the action. However, it was difficult to tell 
> which center pin it was. At first it looked like the hammer butt flange pin 
> needed to be re-pinned. So I did that.  It fixed it momentarily.  Then it 
> started to stick again.  Looking at it, it looked like the wippen center pin 
> might be the problem since it wasn't coming all the way back down when the key 
> was released. Although, I wasn't clear if it was because the jack center wasn't 
> resetting all the way, either. As the problems were over the entire upper third 
> of the action to one degree or another, we agreed to have me take the action and 
> work at it on my bench.
> 
> As it turns out, about 30 percent of the hammer butt flanges needed re-pinning. 
> Also, about 20 percent of the jack centers had to be re-pinned.  Additionally, 
> almost 50 percent of the wippens needed to be re-pinned. It was hit and miss, 
> with some notes needing all 3 pins changed, others 2 pins, and some only 1 pin, 
> while some remained unchanged. I ended up taking pretty much every hammer and 
> wippen assembly off to evaluate all 3 pins.
> 
> It seemed very time-consuming, so my question is this...
> 
> What do you look at, or manipulate, to determine which pin is the culprit while 
> the action is still in the piano or on the workbench? How do you test them all 
> to determine the troublemaker without disassembling most of the action? 
> 
> Obviously, my method works very well, but, as I mentioned, it's very 
> time--consuming. Any thoughts or insight is greatly appreciated.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Rob McCall
> 
> McCall Piano Service, LLC
> www.mccallpiano.com
> Murrieta, CA
> 951-698-1875

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