[CAUT] Hammer Alignment

[Jerry Cohen]

Jon,

I have found the same thing on many brand new European pianos, especially if
they have been stored (Keyboard Carriage) for a year or 2 before being
delivered to the dealer. I thought the hammer shifting was caused by the
piano being stored on its side for a long time. I have also found no
shifting in the bass section, and this has always been a mystery to me,
since those hammers are heavier.

I never thought about the shank twisting, rather than the flange shifting. I
have a customer with a new Schimmel with misaligned hammers that I must take
care of soon, so I'll check if it is shifting or twisting problem.

One more mystery. I have never seen this problem develop after a piano has
been delivered. In other words, if the alignment was good upon delivery, it
stays good several years later.

I'll report what I find on the Schimmel.

Jerry Cohen, RPT
New Jersey Chapter


-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Jon
Page
Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2006 8:02 AM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: [CAUT] Hammer Alignment

Is it just me or am I crazy but I've noticed a misalignment
of hammers after a year or two.  By this I mean that the
hammer has leaned towards the treble such that it requires
re-setting.  Angled too much for burn-in.

Could it be that the shanks develop a twist, warping
in a clockwise rotation as viewed from the front?
Gravitation whiplash from the rotation of the earth?

The travel is not the culprit. When installed, they were dead on.
I've noticed this developing more so on Renner shanks than Abel.
It's disconcerting to find your laborious efforts gone astray.

They're not bored off center. I can't recall ever finding
ones that leaned counter-clockwise.  Oddly enough,
the bass doesn't seem to exhibit this phenomenon.

A newish M needs most of the top two treble sections reset.
Yesterday I reset at least a dozen on an L which had new h/s/f
three years ago.

One could past it off as a poorly hung set
but I know that was not the case.
-- 

Regards,

Jon Page