[CAUT] [pianotech] Baldwin Accujust

[Fred Sturm]

On Apr 24, 2009, at 10:01 AM, Wolfley, Eric (wolfleel) wrote:

> Lloyd Reinhardt, worked for Cliff in the factory putting in concert  
> grand soundboards. His take on setting downbearing was "nickel,  
> quarter, dime"...that is the low tenor was set at the thickness of a  
> nickel, middle tenor to that of a quarter, and the high treble to  
> that of a dime. I'm sure they had gauges in the factory but Lloyd  
> was semi-literate and he built soundboards, recapped bridges and  
> installed pinblocks using this method with a pretty fair degree of  
> success for about 30 years after Baldwin flew the coop. The  
> available technical data, access to methods and instruction has  
> improved so much in the last 30 years that it's not funny. Now we  
> talk about Wixey gauges that read in 0.1 degree increments and  
> bubble deflections...

	Those "rule of thumb" methods can work fine, as long as you aren't  
too particular. With the Accujust, measuring the angle of deflection  
individually each string is a more logical approach, however precisely  
you do it. I suppose you could measure samples, and then match them  
using a jig to measure up from the plate. In any case, I don't think I  
will be planing the bridge to get nickle/dime/quarter above the plate  
<G>.
	What I need to be able to do is to move the wire on the pin pretty  
efficiently and accurately. That's what my main question is about.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu