balance rail bearings

[Newton Hunt]

> Lifting the key and bearing as high as possible will only let
> me see down the pin a fraction of a mm below the top of the strip.

I have about 7% of normal vision so to do this I have to use a short
focus telescope, flashlight and tweezers.  It is awkward and
uncomfortable because I need two additional hands to do the job
comfortably.  I have never had any problems with even an S Steinway or
any other piano except those where the keys extend past the edge of
the back rail.  The letoff button is the limiting factor in this
project so if the letoff is set at a half inch or more then yes you
could have a severe problem leveling this way.  I am slow at this but
I am also a stubborn sob and refuse to give in to having to remove the
stack for a couple of adjustments of level since taking out eight to
12 screws is not my idea of fun.

> I'll bet that you could find manufacturing practices that are only done by tradition or that manufacturers might have psychological commitments to keep going.

This is true, but an someone else said in another context, "there are
no real secrets in piano manufacturing...".  Everyone knows what
everyone else is doing and if some factory chooses to do something
they consider superior that is fine, but if there is a way to save a
couple of dollars on an action or ten or fifteen dollars on a rim they
will do it.  Factories do not do more than they consider to be
adequate for their purposes, especially American factories, so I stand
by my statement.

> I have never been personally told by anyone that they could tell the difference in touch between a key with the bearing and one without the bearing. (I can't tell the difference.)

Nor have or can I but I learned long ago that concert level performers
can perceive things I cannot so I spend a great deal of time making
sure the quality of my work is the very best I am capable of doing
irrespective of the piano or player.  I also endeavor to respect a
manufacturers intent.  I will never change S&S's key and frame design
without exceedingly good reason because it WILL change the performance
of the piano and often in unpredictable ways.  It is possible to
improve on factory production in many areas like touch weight, hammer
weight, geometry, scales and MANY other areas but here we are talking
about factory production limitations.  These are factories and their
objective is to make as much money as they can by keeping their
production costs as low as possible.

These are factories not places of perfection as they were prior to WW
II.

> I'll find out how much twisting is going to happen, now that I've removed the front strip. I'll report back with my observations. Can I assume that your statement is one of logical inference, Newton, or have you really taken out the strip and observed twisting? 

I am a machenic and if a mechanical system makes sense then I do not
need to undo a design just t to prove it works or does not.  I _have_
had experience with loose ones rattling, one moved left and right and
changed the level when it did so and since the bearing and the key
come together at an angle ANY rotation of the bearing will cause the
key to rise since it is touch the key further back then when it is
straight.  If your bearings are very tight then you may not see any
problem, but if any of them are the slightest bit loose they will
rotate.  

> and I'm sorry S&S uses them at all.

They have and do things that are a royal pain in the butt but they
are, in some respects, the superior product desired by performers not
because of the name but because they can do things with the S&S they
cannot with other brands.  This is THEIR choice and not one that I can
or should have any influence upon.

Please never forget that Murphy reigns supreme and he will come along
and bite your butt at the most inconvenient opportunity.  I know
because I have compromised because of limited time or materials and
ALWAYS lived to regret it, sometime during performances.

Now I may be an old man flapping my gums to the unbelievers and young
but by all that is, has been, and will be I have been there and
suffered that   Don't mess things up unless you have really, REALLY
good reasons for doing so.  Those reasons do exist but always remember
you do changes not just at your own risk but at those of the
owner/permormer as well.

Well, enough preaching for this Sunday morning.  Bless you all and my
you have a peaceful and stressless week.

		Newton (gum banging old toot in the wind).