<html> <body> Dave, I'm going to have to do this as a warranty issue on a Chinese make, way too tight.  What kind of gram resistance are you talking about here? Andrew Anderson At 04:39 PM 11/8/2007, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""> <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">The change in tone on this piano was astounding. I have been chasing voicing issues that are pinning issues.</blockquote> Ding ding ding ding. This is what Chris Robinson and Roger Jolly have been preaching for a long while; all this baloney about zero friction is a crock of merde. In most pianos, in most applications, 3-4-5 swings is close to ideal for the shank flange. I'm glad, Dave, that you now have concrete, practical, aural evidence of the crucial tonal importance of proper shank flange friction. We repin carefully on every single set of new flanges we install, regardless of maker. It's that important. Proper flange friction, especially at the shank flange, has a radical positive effect on the touch, the "right" feeling of the action; it becomes crisper, "lighter," more controllable at low volume. If you maintain high-use Asian pianos, you can become a voodoo, iconic "voicing technician," respected and desired, if you carefully repin the shank flanges. We repin the shank flanges on every new client with an Asian piano (and other makers on a case-by-case basis)  as a matter of course. There's oodles in the archives about the latest, hippest methods; the Mannino broaches are the key. You can't lose with this. Most times you repin, everything gets startlingly better, and you're a hero. Woo-hoo. xoDavid Andersen On Nov 7, 2007, at 6:08 PM, David Renaud wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""> There were 27 swings on some hammer flanges. Some birds eyes required #22 pin to be tight. The pins were rotating in some bird eyes. The change in tone on this piano was astounding. I have been chasing voicing issues that are pining issues. The rep. works. One comment was that Steinway spec for hammer flange pinning is .1 to 4 grams. There is talk of a zero friction policy. Excuse my ignorance, but are you kidding, is that a joke. Do they really think one tenth on one gram is acceptable.   If so I should post a recording of the change in tone in this octave for all to hear. Also it is imposable  to get the rep springs soft enough not to jump and still allow the rep. lever to support the hammer on fast trills. Impossible I say with .1 gram resistance.    Now I have to do the whole piano.    The repined octave is silky smooth.    The very next note A5 screams upper harmonics and has clack in the tone. The clack was not so noticeable when ever thing was the same, but now with a clean point of reference it is so clearly deficient.</blockquote></blockquote></body> </html>