<div> Tom:<br> <br> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Steve Jellen observed to me (not in that class), and I have always tended to think the same, that the return spring is mis-named and should be called perhaps a retention spring since it's greatest function seems to be to keep the hammer against the hammer rail and to reduce "bounce" of the hammer against the rail on return. It should be experimentally demonstrable that the spring does less to return the hammer than, say, the bridle strap (viz Jim Ellis), and particularly on a medium to hard blow. The spring may have a more experimentally demonstrable function on a soft blow where the bridle strap effect is less.<br> <br> Paul<br> </font></div> <div> <br> </div> <div> <br> </div> -----Original Message-----<br> From: Tom Driscoll <tomtuner@verizon.net><br> To: Pianotech List <pianotech@ptg.org><br> Sent: Fri, 1 Aug 2008 10:56 pm<br> Subject: Re: Spinet Evaluation<br> <br> <div id="AOLMsgPart_2_bfb05d51-6fee-4a13-a55a-dfbd3a212d17"> <div><font face="Arial" size="2">Matthew,</font></div> <div><font face="Arial" size="2">    You have had some good suggestions on your question.</font></div> <div><font face="Arial" size="2">As to your  "Wore out springs " guess my guess is you guessed wrong. Of course you could have investigated and flexed one of the springs with your finger to test or pulled a butt out and performed a swing test or gram resistance test. You also could have applied protek to  a butt flange which would have been revealing also.</font></div> <div><font face="Arial" size="2">   I think you might be overemphasizing the importance of the hammer return spring </font></div> <div><font face="Arial" size="2">The late great Steve Jellen demonstrated in class a conventional action model that worked with the hammer return spring removed </font></div> <div><font face="Arial" size="2">In my opinion if the action centers are free the hammer will return to the rest rail no matter what condition the spring is in.</font></div> <div><font face="Arial" size="2">    I hate the N.Y. Yankees (Sorry Mr. Bondi) but I will quote the great Yogi Berra again on this list. </font></div> <div><font face="Arial" size="2">    </font></div> <div><font face="Arial" size="5">"You can observe a lot by looking "</font></div> <div><font face="Arial" size="2">    </font></div> <div><font face="Arial" size="2"> The answer to your question was right in front of you. Ask the piano with some basic observations and let it tell you where the problem lies.</font></div> <div><font face="Arial" size="2"> Matthew , I commend you for reaching out to this list for help.</font></div> <div><font face="Arial" size="2">I've been in the trade for longer than you've been alive and I can honestly say that I've learned more from this list in the last several years than from any other source .</font></div> <div><font face="Arial" size="2">    Keep your eyes open jump in and figure it out.Ask away when you get stumped but in my opinion true learning comes from that moment when you observe,test ,experiment , fail, try again  ,and figure it out.</font></div> <div><font face="Arial" size="2">Trust yourself Dude,</font></div> <div><font face="Arial" size="2">Best wishes,</font></div> <div><font face="Arial" size="2">Tom Driscoll RPT</font></div> <div><font face="Arial" size="2"></font> </div> <div><font face="Arial" size="2"> </font></div> <blockquote dir="ltr" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 5px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 0px;"> <div><b>Subject:</b> Spinet Evaluation</div> <blockquote dir="ltr" style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 5px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 0px;"> <div><font face="Arial" size="2"></font><br>  </div> <div>I returned from the spinet evaluation. The elbows will need to be replaced.  And with the keys that do work, when you release your finger from the key, the hammer only goes about half way back and you have to move it with your hand to return it.  I am suspecting the hammer return springs need replacing.  It didn't "feel" like tight flanges, and the hammer springs are where they're suppose to be, but I guess they just are wore out.</div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div>Thoughts?<br> Matthew</div> </blockquote><pre> </pre></blockquote></div>  <div id='u8CAC26FE52122D9-1058-1748' class='aol_ad_footer'><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">It's time to go back to school! Get the latest trends and gadgets that make the grade on <A title="http://shopping.aol.com/back-to-school?ncid=aolins00050000000007" href="http://shopping.aol.com/back-to-school?ncid=aolins00050000000007" target="_blank">AOL Shopping</A>.</FONT> </div>