Kawai heavy action (long)

[Fred Sturm]

Hi all,
	Just thought I'd report on how this job went - completed it yesterday. 
Basically, it went as planned. I did decide to remove 0.5 grams from each 
hammer (tapering), as the weight seemed to be heading for 50 - 58 DW, 25 - 
32 UW. As long as the hammer assemblies were off the rail for repinning, 
this took very little extra time. Shop time, 8 hours (admittedly "hoofing 
it." Not a pace I can maintain day by day). Time in customer's home, 2 
hours regulation. Results: happy customer, piano that plays very nicely 
(and sounds better due to hammer filing - another psychological plus).
	I love this sort of job. Pays well (I charge premium rates for my time 
when "performing magic"), and is very satisfying. And, like Jim Harvey, I 
actually do enjoy things like cutting and regluing knuckle leathers. Thanks 
to all for your suggestions and input. I used a lot of the ideas.
	BTW, it was a joy to regulate rep spring tension on a Schwander again 
(it's been a while). So fast and easy to deal with compared to the 
butterfly. A shame it doesn't perform quite as well. Anyone care to comment 
on just how and why the butterfly came to be universally accepted as pretty 
much the only game in town?
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico