<!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 6.00.2600.0" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman" text=#000000 = bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It's pretty hard to address this = without a little more data.  Adding lead may not be a problem depending on the = actual front weight.  The bass section will often take 4 leads without an = inertia problem, but it depends on where they are.  Your C4 has a balance = weight of 47.5 g.  To bring it down to 40 you will need to add 7.5 grams to = the front weight.  With only two leads at this position it may not be a = problem, but it depends on the overall front weight.  Balance weight at 40 is a reasonable target for this action.  That puts the DW/UW at 47/33 = with 7 grams of friction.  I'd rather see the friction around 10 here so I = would check the hammer flange pinning.  With 10 grams of friction, the = DW/UW will be 50/30.  If the hammer weight/strike weight at this point is representative of the overall curve and the front weight is not too = high, that will produce a nice feeling instrument.  Stanwood's system = provides a nice method for analysis of these points.  The fundamentals of this = system are available from the journal archives in a series of 3 articles = written awhile back.  I highly recommend you become familiar with them.  It = is perfectly designed to answer questions such as you are posing.  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>David Love</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=dm.porritt@verizon.net = href="mailto:dm.porritt@verizon.net">David M. Porritt</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> September 30, 2002 6:01 = AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Heavy action</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>I have a Baldwin SF-10 here on which I just measured = the action weight.  C4 is 60 grams down, 45 grams up!  Friction -- = obviously is good -- down weight bad.  I hate adding lots of lead to the keys, = but on this piano there are only 3 weights in the bass section, 2 at C4, only = 1 in the upper treble, and actually 2 in the _back_ of C8.  It appears = that they did straight pattern leading on this one.  I can add 1 - 2 = weights to each key and bring it down to 44 at A0, 42 at C4 and 40 at B7 (I'd = probably just take out a back weight on C8).  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>There is a point of diminishing returns on some actions where you = can reduce downweight by adding leads but the additional inertia = makes it feel to the player as though it is as heavy as it was before.  = Does anyone think I'd get into inertia problems adding this amount of = lead?  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>dave</DIV><PRE>_____________________________ David M. Porritt dporritt@mail.smu.edu Meadows School of the Arts Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX 75275 _____________________________</PRE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>