---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment April Fools! David I. *********** REPLY SEPARATOR *********** On 4/1/01 at 9:07 PM Erwinpiano wrote: Ken I enjoyed your tale immensely but hey buddy have you got too much time me on your hands? Just kidding. Really ,you did get me thinking and I think I could perhaps attach some generic kind of vibrator to my reg. bench. Boy would that be handy! but not as therapeutic as your set up. hmmm Maybe I'll visit goodwill tomorrow. Dale Erwin ----- Original Message ----- From: Ken Jankura To: pianotech@ptg.org Sent: Sunday, April 01, 2001 5:29 PM Subject: Decoupler tale Dear List, I always like coming up with ideas to make certain tasks we do as technicians easier and more efficient, and, if I may, I like to share my latest with you today. But let me tell you the evolution of my new technique. We all have to take touchweight measurements on an entire keyboard from time to time, and what a chore it can be. It's not that the work is so difficult, but for me it's the stress brought on by what I call 'the uncertainty factor', that is, knowing how often and how hard to tap the keybed to break that pesky static friction. The situation reminds me of that old TV commercial from the 60's, debating whether to use Ex-Lax or prunes for constipation, and the concerned housewife remarks, "With prunes I'm never sure, are 2 enough, are 6 too many?" I find myself in a similar quandary tapping the keybed. Richard Davenport, in the PTJ of Feb, 1999, used a swinging mallet contraption to tap his action model experiment in a controlled and repeatable way. He called it the 'static friction inertia decoupler'. I like to think that I've come up with the Ex-lax of static friction inertia decouplers; smooth, fast acting, reliable, and completely safe. I stopped at a yard sale a while back and spied an old game that I remember from my youth. It's the one where the metal gameboard is a football field and you set up the little football players on the field, and then turn it on, and the whole surface vibrates, and the players move forward (or whichever direction they are facing) and the object is to strategize and set them up in a way that allows your designated ball-carrying player to break free and score a touchdown. Anyway, I had a flash of inspiration when I saw that game, as well as a plunge into the wellspring of nostalgia, and I thought, "here's my ticket to static friction inertia decoupling nirvana". Next chance I got, I C-clamped it to the side of a grand keyframe, set up the players (for fun), and, with my gram weights at the ready, turned it on. All I can say is 'Wow'. That gentle vibrating action was just the ticket to keep those keys moving freely. No tapping guesswork necessary. There were two problems, though. One was that I kept getting distracted by the game, trying to figure out strategy for my next play, and two, the vibration seemed to be a little too strong in the treble where the gameboard was clamped, and not quite strong enough in the bass. I did consider getting another game and clamping it to the bass end of the action, but, 1) my regulating table isn't long enough, 2) I thought it would just add to the problem of distracting me by trying to play two games at once, and 3) the beat rate produced by the vibrating oscillations of the two games might throw both the strategy of the game play and the gentle quality of the static friction inertia decoupling right out the window. So, back to the drawing board. At the local Goodwill store, I had another one of those flashes, as if of inspiration, when I saw a brown naugahyde Barca-lounger with Magic-Fingers. It was kind of worn out for $50, but what convinced me to get it was the built-in heater. I purchased it and moved it to my shop and got to work. I built some brackets and attached them to the underside of an old table top from an office desk, then I attached the table top permanently to the arms of the Barca-lounger. You have to squeeze in from the top or scrunch in from underneath, but once you're there, buddy, it's the easy seat. I crank up the built-in heater and start those Magic Fingers, and, I could take touchweight measurements all day, every day. The chair has two vibration settings, and I use both, as necessary. If it is an old piano action with flat, crusty, graphited knuckles, I run it on high. If it's a reconditioned one with smooth, round, tefloned knuckles, low speed seem to work just fine. Nice even vibration from bass to treble, no stressful tapping guesswork, and best of all, the added bemefit of no more nagging backaches. One tip for those who try this, you will need to put little neoprene washers on the bottom of your gram weights to keep them from sliding off the key, or, as I like to think of it, 'getting tackled' :-). So when I'm in my shop these days, you can find me either honing my set-up strategy on the electric football game, or relaxing and taking trouble free touchweight measurements on piano actions. Last week I even gave a discount to someone whose action came in only for key bushings, just because I knew I would want to take touchweight measurements for fun, and I would feel like I had been to the spa afterward. These are the kind of benefits I like to pass back to the customer, whenever possible. Well, my back feels a little stiff, guess I should go out to the shop and do a little "work" til I feel better. You all have a great day. Ken Jankura Newburg, PA ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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