[pianotech] Hammer Blow

[Al Guecia/Allied PianoCraft]

Dale,

What I have alway done with both center rail and front rail punchings, is to lay them all together on a marble slab and iron them flat. This compresses them. For the center rail, you get a more stable key level and for the front rail, you have a firmer punching. I also like Dave Stanwood's idea of using hammer harder. I'll give that a try on the FR punchings after ironing them.

Al -
High Point, NC



On Oct 10, 2012, at 12:43 AM, Dale Erwin <erwinspiano at aol.com> wrote:

 You don’t play the piano by setting dip. Not sure what this means.
 Our ability to set precise dip by having a punching that doesn't compress is secondary, moreover, unimportant.
  I think it is important
 The amount of aftertouch varies by touch force. The key has to find a bottom at some point. and that bottom is the end of the squish. After the jack has entered let-off phase it enters aftertouch phase or esacpement from the knuckle. As the punching squish happens the jack is moving at varying distances from the knuckle depending on touch force, which is affecting repetition to one degree or another.
  If I am setting a .390 dip & I have a punching with .035 squish then my precisely set dip is meaningless as my total key travel can now be as much as .425. Too deep in my practice
Also my opinion is that more energy is going into the felt and the keybed and less into the hammer string contact time.

 I find pianist who like the feel of actions set up with crescendos. The response this action is really even. I've had both feed backs. The really mushy ones I find objectionable, the touch feels undefined somehow.
  On some pianos there is too much thump noise migrates thru the keybed. In one case I removed them for that cause.
By the way what do you'all use in terms of woven punching that might be a bit firmer. I've liked some from Piano-tek
Dale

Dale Erwin R.P.T.

They do produce more easy to determine dip distance but I find them generally way too hard.  A little give in the punching I find desirable for the sake of the pianist’s finger and often for the sake of noise and key thumping.  Our ability to set precise dip by having a punching that doesn’t compress is secondary, moreover, unimportant.  You don’t play the piano by setting dip. 
 
David Love
www.davidlovepianos.com
 
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Paul Williams
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2012 7:14 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Hammer Blow
 
I've been also using the crescendo punchings for the past couple years and love working with them…waaaay more consistent results.
 
Paul
 
 
From: Dale Erwin <erwinspiano at aol.com>
Reply-To: "pianotech at ptg.org" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Date: Tuesday, October 9, 2012 8:51 AM
To: "pianotech at ptg.org" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Hammer Blow
 
Hi Floyd
 Dittos on Jons post.
  
  And just the squish factor of the avergae supply house front punching changes the feel and amount of overall dip/aftertouch based on touch pressure. They squish as much as .035 compared to .015 for Jurgens crescendo punchings. If you're looking for more precision in key dip/aftertouch its only logical use the latter to reduce errors from variables
Dale Erwin R.P.T.
Erwin's Piano Restoration Inc.
Mason & Hamlin/Steinway/U.S. pianos
www.Erwinspiano.com
Phone: 209-577-8397

 
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Jon Page <jonpage at comcast.net>
To: pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Tue, Oct 9, 2012 4:29 am
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Hammer Blow
 >This week I'm going to see what happens to my hammer line if I set 
hammer blow to achieve a specified amount of aftertouch.  I've set the 
key height, >key dip and letoff.  I'll put the action in the piano, use a .045 punching with a notch cut out so I can slide it onto the front 
rail pin over the cloth >punching with the key installed, and set the 
hammer blow for each of the white keys such that a weight on the key (I 
forget how many grams, and I'm >not in the shop to check) brings it 
almost to let-off, and a slight downward tap on the key will take it 
through let-off. Theoretically, the straightness of >the hammer line I 
achieve with this procedure should allow me to evaluate how successful I 
was in setting even key dip and consistent aftertouch.
 
Your hammer line will become erratic by doing this because of the 
slightly different Key Ratios between notes. That procedure is what you 
do to set an even touch with a priority given to aftertouch. But to do 
this, you alter the dip not the blow distance. Keys level, hammer line 
level, key dip slightly uneven. The pianist feels a even aftertouch and 
not an uneven key dip. Altering the blow on an individual basis will 
introduce volume discrepancies brought on by varying blow distances.
 
Aftertouch calibration by varying dip slightly is essential to a smooth 
feeling action.
 
-- 
Regards,
 
Jon Page
 

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