Friction and Balance pinsn back

[James Grebe]

Hi Ed,
maybe this is why J.P. is no longer at Steinway.  I guess we all have pet
theories that we believe in that don't necessarily work for other people who
actually are doing the work.  I have several of those theories too.
James Grebe
R.P.T. of the P.T.G
pianoman@inlink.com
Creator of Handsome Hardwood Caster Cups and Practical Piano Peripherals in
St. Louis, MO
-----Original Message-----
From: A440A@AOL.COM <A440A@AOL.COM>
To: pianotech@ptg.org <pianotech@ptg.org>
Date: Thursday, November 12, 1998 9:43 PM
Subject: Friction and Balance pins


>Greetings,
>    I read with interest Lance's post inre sizing balance rail holes.  I
would
>be fearful to use a drill bit, lest it remove wood.  I have been using
another
>technique that seems to provide durability and ease of use.
>    After de-bushing, ( with steam, which not only removes the felt but
sizes
>the hole), I take a spare pin, of the original size, and hammer it out of
>round,( about .005-.010") near one end.  Then this goes into a pinvise for
>use.
>       Coming in from the top of the key, I press the enlarged portion
through
>the hole  so that the widened portion is in the balance hole with the major
>dimension across the key.  This eases the key more sideways than front to
>back.  If it is not enough, a quarter turn, back and forth will usually
gain
>the clearance needed.
>    Keys treated this way seem to be less inclined to "pully" after heavy
use,
>and it is very consistant.  If you have a long enough pin,  you can leave
the
>bottom 1/4" round and obviate the need to put it back on the keyframe to
test
>for clearance.
>    As a side note,  when I was at the Steinway factory for my "factory
>training week", J. Pramberger was in charge of production, and the balance
>rail holes were extremely tight.  I was told this was his idea for
increasing
>repetition speed!  I found that it was not possible to get a really even
key
>level, and measuring the aftertouch was difficult, since there was a
strange
>feeling of resistance at the very bottom of the keydip.  Anybody else got
any
>ideas on this??
>Regards,
>Ed Foote
>