Genuine Steinway Action Rails Split

[Isaac OLEG]

Hello, gentlemen,

I changed (soldered) twice split rails on 1960 Hamburg actions (1 mod
S and 1 mod D)

As I was not really trained on a good process to solder them the first
was a little difficult, meaning the soldering was not as nice as I
wished. I changed hammer and whippen rail on the S and hammer rail
only on the D.

On the Steinway action if you take the keyboard by a corner and lift
it a little you can see very easily if some rail is split, as the
rigidity of the action is way less then that with a good stack.

I don't believe old opened tubular frame can be reused, they are
supposed to be tight enough, a too big loss of energy may happen with
a reconditioned one.

Beside measuring spread and position (vertical & horizontal) on the
stack screwed on the bench before unsoldering the old rails), I was
able to "unglue" (with a little torch) the old brass core from the
lead holding it, and it helps me a lot to keep the new rail in place,
after that I solder in one place, take off the old lead of the second,
solder the second, and so on, and was able to have the thing in place
without a too much sophisticated setup.. Having a good cold source is
useful for the operation.

I've find the holes to be really corresponding well enough to the old
ones, but I was obliged to change all the screws for new very
expensive Steinway screws.

I am not persuaded that the hammer flange are horizontal on the stack,
indeed I believe there is a 1° angle pointing up.

On the last (mod C) action where I had problematic rails I change the
whole stack for a new, and had other problems, as the stack I received
seems to be intended for modern whippen & hammer. Beside the necessity
for warping the stack feet without stressing or bending the whole
thing, I've find the spread to be a little more 113 mm on the new
stack.

Then I installed new whippen (that was a 1969 piano) that seemed to
arrange the action.

On the pianos from the 60's, it is not really rare to found little
thin  cardboards shims below the whippen flanges at some places,
intended to correct the spread I believe. The method is still
considered necessary sometime by the officials here.

I've learned to space the flanges regularly, and the hammers too when
at rest, I generally can space the flanges very well (in front of
agraffes ). It is important when installing new flanges to use a good
sharp rap with the screwdriver to create an imprint of the screw on
the new flange, this may be well centered, as the screw will have to
find its place there every time after that.

Gentlemen, have good holydays, I will try to do the same just to show
some solidarity with the profession.

Best Regards.

Isaac OLEG

PianoTech
19 rue Jules Ferry
94400 VITRY sur SEINE
FRANCE
tel : 033 01 47 18 06 98
fax : 033 01 47 18 06 90
cell: 06 60 42 58 77



> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : owner-caut@ptg.org [mailto:owner-caut@ptg.org]De la
> part de Delwin
> D Fandrich
> Envoyé : vendredi 12 juillet 2002 20:14
> À : caut@ptg.org
> Objet : Re: Genuine Steinway Action Rails Split
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ed Sutton" <ed440@mindspring.com>
> To: <caut@ptg.org>
> Sent: July 12, 2002 11:03 AM
> Subject: Re: Genuine Steinway Action Rails Split
>
>
> >     Del's comments are certainly worth considering, but
> in this case I am
> > contracted to rebuild an action, not redesign the piano.
> The action is in
> > such bad shape that just getting it into the range of
> "normal Steinway"
> will
> > be a great improvement.
>
> Well, the part of the question I was responding to was:
> "What is the point
> of reference...." I didn't say any of this was practical in
> real life.
> Actually, it is quite practical and has been -- and is
> being -- accomplished
> by many piano factories. It just wasn't accomplished by
> Steinway in years
> past. Does anybody know about years current?
>
> Del
>
>