<br><br> <div><span class="gmail_quote">On 10/27/07, <b class="gmail_sendername"><a href="mailto:pcpoulson@sbcglobal.net">pcpoulson@sbcglobal.net</a></b> <<a href="mailto:pcpoulson@sbcglobal.net">pcpoulson@sbcglobal.net</a>> wrote: </span> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">While we're on the subject of odd pianos, I am working on a George Steck<br>baby grand with an action that is new to me. It has a spring loaded lever <br>assembly that rotates the wippens forward when a pedal is depressed, causing<br>the hammers to rise with out introducing any lost motion. This duplicates<br>the soft pedal action on an upright. Interesting idea, but it makes <br>regulating the action a challenge, particularly when levelling  and setting<br>dip.<br>   The other oddity, which I noticed in another Steck baby grand several<br>years back, is that the drop screw end of the wippen levers rub the hammer <br>rail, to the point that the levers bind and prevent the wippens from<br>returning to the rest position. On both pianos I wound up having to rout out<br>the back of the hammer rail with a Dremel tool to gain sufficient clearance. <br>On the first piano someone in the past had tried to get clearance by<br>shimming the rail, with little success. Any one have a better way of dealing<br>with these issues?<br>Thanks,<br>Patrick C. Poulson<br>Registered Piano Technician <br>Piano Technicians Guild<br><br></blockquote></div> <div><br>I had a similar problem with the repitition levers on a small Kimball grand I was redoing, I was replacing flanges and shanks to get rid of the pear shaped knuckles on the beast.  I noticed after I removed all of the old flanges that several of the repetition levers would catch on the back edge of the hammer flange rail. I just removed the rail from the action and ran it through my jointer a couple of times removing about 1/8" of material from the back edge, then shimmed it back to original position. That area has makes no difference to the geometry of the action but sure made those levers clear better. </div> <div>I've got a little Steck coming up soon I'll have to look for those things you mentioned.</div> <div><br clear="all">Mike<br>-- <br>Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning.-- Albert Einstein<br><br><br><br>Michael Magness<br>Magness Piano Service<br>608-786-4404 <br><a href="http://www.IFixPianos.com">www.IFixPianos.com</a><br>email <a href="mailto:mike@ifixpianos.com">mike@ifixpianos.com</a> </div>