<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=us-ascii"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1170" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV>Thanks, Wim. Actually, these hammers were incredibly worn and smoothly flat as the = flange bushings had all failed. The rest rail felt was more dirt than wool and = deeply grooved and worn. So I made no attempt to measure blow. You are right = tho, and I sure should have measured key height, although that wouldn't have been = accurate either--the felts were all bug-eaten, the paper was mostly missing, and = the keyframe was completely full--and overflowing--with dust and who-knows = what else. *It was horrible. This job was not so much a rebuild as a = resurrection. I actually tried hard to discourage the client from doing anything!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Alan</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left>-----Original Message----- From: = pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org]On Behalf Of Wimblees@aol.com Sent: Monday, May 19, 2003 10:03 PM To: pianotech@ptg.org Subject: Re: Thar She Blows! </DIV>In a message dated 5/19/03 9:31:39 PM = Central Daylight Time, tune4u@earthlink.net writes: <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px = solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px" TYPE="CITE">Replaced hammers, shanks, butts, keytops, and almost all = felts--including key rest and hammer rest rail--in an old upright. I won't have any trouble getting a good-looking and good-working key height based on keyslip, nameboard, and = available dip but I have to settle on a blow distance before going = further. The set-up, with new parts, is about halfway between 1 5/8" and 1 3/4" Does yourall's (I made up the word) experience think = that is good enough or should I rip out the rest rail felts and re-shim = it .... and if so, should I go for 1 3/4" or 1 7/8"? Is there a = simple way to decide this, or do I need to completely regulate 3 or 4 keys = before I know it will work? One other factor, maybe not too relevant = to the discussion. It has long, tall dowel-capstan type = stickers. Alan Barnard Salem, MO </BLOCKQUOTE> Alan Before = doing any kind of major rebuilding like this, you HAVE to take measurements of = what's there, even if you think you can improve on it. But since you didn't, = most older uprights had a blow distance of 1 7/8". Start with that, and see = how everything falls into place. Wim </BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>