<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1458" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi Ray,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks for explaining!  Yes, it = all makes sense.  No diagrams necessary.  Apparently Steinway strives = for linearity in hammer weight for whatever reasons.  Considering that = what I have is a D clone, more or less, I should probably strive to preserve = the linearity of the D-styled hammers.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thinking about this entire issue, I = wonder whether the "ideal" action would have massively heavy, slow-moving hammers in = the bass, with a very, very low SWR, and rapidly moving, fly-weight hammers in the = treble, with an extroardinarily high SWR.  Varying the SWR radically = throughout the range (e.g. through graduated capstan placement) would make it possible = to broaden the range of strike weights to correspond more meaningfully to = string mass.  The ideal match between hammer and string would result in = much higher efficiency from the system.  The bass would be much "deeper" = and richer -- less loaded with overtones, and the treble would probably have = more of a ringing quality.  Of course if this were done, it might not sound = like a "piano" anymore.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Peace,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sarah</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A title=ray@ronsen-hammer.com = href="mailto:ray@ronsen-hammer.com">Ray Negron</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, August 22, 2004 = 9:54 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> RE: SW heresy?</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN = class=772362901-23082004>Hi Sarah,</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=772362901-23082004></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=772362901-23082004>With most hammers, you can sight a strait = line along all surfaces. Some grands, most notably Steinways, have(or had- not = sure if they still do it) a taper that is not strait. The sheet of felt = is manufactured to produce this taper. Simply put, there are three tapers = in the sheet, bass, tenor, and treble. I am not computer literate enough to = draw it. </SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=772362901-23082004></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=772362901-23082004>Ray Negron</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT = face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> = pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org]<B>On Behalf Of </B>Sarah Fox<BR><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, August 22, 2004 11:13 AM<BR><B>To:</B> Pianotech<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: SW heresy?<BR></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>.<BR></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I guess I'm thinking more of the = linear proportions in the dimensions of the heads.  If I'm not = mistaken, you could take a slab of uncut hammers and sight a straight line = along all surfaces.  Correct?  (Ray??)  Interestingly, the = entire keyframe is laid out in straight lines as well, with longer = dimensions in the bass and shorter in the treble.  Ray explains that the felt = in the bass hammers is less dense than in the treble, so that would explain = the basic form of the SW curve.  With linear dimensions all around, = and with progressively decreasing felt density, combined with increasing = proportions of felt with the larger/lower hammers, there would = actually be a fall-off in the bass end SW.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Peace,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sarah</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></BODY></HTML>