fast puzzle,answer

[David M. Porritt]

Ed:

Thanks for the tip.  I guess I'm fortunate that none of our Steinways
is old enough to have this "production improvement".  I guess it's ok
as long as it's back in the action far enough that the customer can't
see it.

dave

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 3/9/2002 at 1:29 PM A440A@AOL.COM wrote:

>>     A new Steinway D. a knocking sound when
>>the pedal is used in rapid repetition.   This noise was the result
of a
>>factory defect, and I fixed it with a screwdriver and  my cordless
drill
>with
>>a #9 bit.
>
>Ok,,  so maybe the puzzle interest is gone, but here was the
problem.  The 
>treble damper tray support block was moving with pedal action, and
the
>screw 
>would not tighten it anymore. 
>      Steinway has changed the way the damper tray is mounted.
Formerly,
>the 
>tray anchor blocks were cut so that they fit snugly between the
keybed and 
>the bottom of the shelf. With the block trapped between top and
bottom 
>thusly, a single screw would hold it in place with no fear of
twisting or 
>movement. 
>    Today, these blocks are cut so that they don't come close to the

>underside of the shelf, which means that the screw is the only thing
>holding 
>it in place.  In and of itself, this avoidance of closely fit parts
allows 
>weakness in the system, since the tray pivot is located above the
screw
>and 
>the forces at work want to move the block away from the
tray(creating 
>instability in the damper regulation).  It may have looked like a
way to 
>speed up the back-action assembly process but it is a step away from

>functional durability and simple craftsmanship. That they must use
heavy 
>paper shims on two sides of this block also indicates that somebody
in the 
>action department is cutting undersize and shimming to fit. That
isn't the 
>way it used to be!
>    What I found on this particualr D, and several others, is that
the 
>anchoring screw is threaded through the block as well as into the
case.
>This 
>means that if you try to turn the screw to tighten the block, the
block 
>doesn't tighten because the screw is trapped by its own threads.
Screws
>are 
>supposed to act like clamps, with the threads pulling the head and
the
>part 
>that it is bearing against, together.  For this to happen, the hole
in the 
>block must be drilled larger than the threads. ergo, a #9 bit. 
>   Once that was remedied,  I found that the pivot pin had already
>enlarged 
>the block's hole enough to make noise. This is on a Steinway D that
has
>been 
>in use for three weeks!  I plugged the hole with a 1/2" plug and
redrilled 
>it.  All is now quiet on this piano, but anybody that services new
>Steinways 
>will want to look for this.  
>Regards, 
>Ed Foote RPT


_____________________________
David M. Porritt
dporritt@mail.smu.edu
Meadows School of the Arts
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, TX 75275
_____________________________