<font color='black' size='2' face='Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif'> <div>Terry</div> <div> </div> <div>Something just occurred to me about the Kimball. Have you looked under the keys, yet? Here in Hawaii we have carpenter ants. They like to build a nest under keys, and their nesting material is a thick black goo, which is very hard to scrape off. I've had several instances where they keys felt spongy, like what you describe, to find that the keys were stuck to the balance rail and punchings by this black tarry substance. I had a very hard time even dislodging some of the keys. If this is the case, take a chisel with you to scrape of the goo and all the any carcasses that come with it. You cannot vacuum this stuff up.</div> <div> </div> <div>Good luck.</div> <div> </div> <div>Wim </div> <div></div> <div style="clear: both;"> <div> </div> </div> <div></div> <div></div> <div style="color: black; font-family: arial,helvetica; font-size: 10pt;">-----Original Message-----<br> From: Terry Farrell <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com><br> To: pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org><br> Sent: Wed, Dec 5, 2012 5:08 pm<br> Subject: Re: [pianotech] Kimball Spinet with HEAVY Sponge Action<br> <br> <div id="AOLMsgPart_2_1d2d354b-6cab-442f-82ac-a153840244cf"> <base>I checked damper springs - seem Goldilocks fine - not too stiff and not too weak. Unless I get any other bright ideas, I think I'm gonna recommend to the owner that if they want me to look into it I will try one or two sample keys and chip off the hard rubber nut, inspect the balance holes and install a new rubber nut. We'll see if either/both of those items are causing the problem. And of course, when I have the drop sticker disengaged from the key, then I can much more closely check the rest of the action ite<br> <div>mThanks Barbara, Jon, Phil & Dean.<br> <div><br> </div> <div>I really wonder if it couldn't be the balance holes. That's the exact feeling it has - something binding in there. It feels exactly like several keys on a little spinet I tuned a few weeks ago - and of course, being that it was just a few keys, I knew something had to have fallen down in there - took quite a bit of looking but finally found the Bic pen right up against the backside of the let-off button rail - really quite well hidden from view. Unfortunately, I've never seen a four-foot-long pen though........</div> <div><br> </div> <div>Peek-a-boo!</div> <div><br> </div> <div><img id="637e151f-561b-438c-bc33-7b55533bbea1" src="cid:9E7D1B74-2584-4E33-8A58-BA4435D8F696" width="480" height="640"></div> <div><br> </div> <div>Terry Farrell</div> <div><br> </div> <div><br> <div> <div>On Dec 5, 2012, at 7:29 PM, Barbara Richmond wrote:</div> <br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"> <div> <div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"> <div style="margin: 0px;">What Jon said.  And check the damper springs, too.</div> <div style="margin: 0px;"> </div> <div style="margin: 0px;">Barbara Richmond, RPT</div> <div style="margin: 0px;">near Peoria, Illinois<br> <br> </div> <div style="margin: 0px;"></div> <hr id="zwchr"> <div style="margin: 0px;"></div> <div style="margin: 0px;"><b>From:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>"Jon Page" <<a href="mailto:jonpage@comcast.net">jonpage@comcast.net</a>><br> <b>To:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b><a href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</a><br> <b>Sent:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>Wednesday, December 5, 2012 6:04:46 PM<br> <b>Subject:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></b>Re: [pianotech] Kimball Spinet with HEAVY Sponge Action<br> <br> Look to see if the balance holes are too high. It can really restrict<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br> the pivoting motion.<br> <br> --<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br> Regards,<br> <br> Jon Page<br> <br> </div> </div> </div> </blockquote></div> <br> </div> </div> </div>  </div> </font>