>I have understood that the only purpose of the felt or cloth used on >Steinway hammer rails was to help the flange conform better to the rail. >I don't think it changes the relationships of the parts appreciably. Dear Vince, List, The height of a flange with the cloth removed is considerably lower than a neighbor flange with the cloth still under it. My main concern, of course, was if anyone knew whether something in the regulation would be affected by removing the rail cloth, since there have been Steinways made both with and without the cloth. I did do a search in the archives on this subject and it mainly focused on the rail cloth absorbing the expansion and contraction of the flange itself. Interestingly enough, I have never seen a rail cloth on the wippen rail. Must be more to this hammer rail cloth than just the expansion and contraction of the flange itself. Must be another purpose intended altogether. Keith A. McGavern, RPT kam544@ionet.net Oklahoma Chapter 731 Oklahoma Baptist University Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA PS Avery, thank you for >I've found from experience that without the cloth there, the >flanges/hammers are much harder to keep aligned to the strings. With >humidity changes, the wood swells and contracts and over a period of time, >as you know, the flanges get looser on the rail and will sometimes shift a >little. > Since it's a brass rail, I believe the cloth is needed for flange stabil= ity. >Just my $0.02.
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