Hang'n dem Hammers

gordon stelter lclgcnp@yahoo.com
Sun, 29 Sep 2002 15:54:26 -0700 (PDT)


This is an amazingly helpful, detailed post showing
great edication to quality.
     Thank you!
     Gordon 

--- A440A@aol.com wrote:
> I posted: 
> >"This comes from hanging trial hammers in the
> middle of the section and
> > >moving the action in and out to find the best
> contact point on the string."
>  
> Alan writes: 
> >Moving the action in and out?
>  >I've seen curved hammer lines to accomodate the
> dampers. What does that
> >do to ideal strike points?
> 
> (Hmm,  I must apologize for not stipulating that I
> was referring to grand 
> actions,  the upright action must be raised and
> lowered to analyze the same 
> question.)
> 
>        On a Steinway grand, the hammers are usually
> hung 130 mm from the 
> center pin.  So, it is a simple matter to have a set
> of trial hammers, of 
> varying bore lengths, hung at this distance, at
> exactly 90 degrees to their 
> shank.   I use them find what bore distance allows
> the hammer to meet the 
> string at 90 degrees. ( I do this with a small
> square on the strings against 
> which the hammers, with their centerlines marked,
> are compared when they 
> touch the string).   Then I bore the set and install
> the end hammers in each 
> section at 130 mm.  I put the action in the piano
> and listen to changes as 
> the action moves in or out.  If it improves the
> sound of a section to pull 
> the action out 2 mm,  I simply hang the hammers in
> that section at 132 mm.  
> Sometimes I find that the middle of a section needs
> to be farther out than 
> the ends, so I make a note of this  and hang by the
> following procedure:  
>     In the upper sections, I  put a hammer in the
> middle of the section and 
> listen as it is moved in or out.  This is where I
> find that hammer lines can 
> produce better sound when curved within a section,
> but it usually turns out 
> that the curve is gradual within any given section. 
> Separate sections under 
> the V-bar usually have their own distinctive "best"
> hanging distance.  
>    These curved hammer lines are not easily
> replicated on jigs with straight 
> edges, so I usually have one or two hammers within
> the section that are 
> indexed to the optimum contact spot, and then hang
> the hammers in straight 
> lines between them. At some point, the time it takes
> to refine the contact 
> points to the last 1/2 mm is not worth it.  Hammers
> can be finely adjusted to 
> these tolerances with a little heat and a vertical
> bend in the shank, if 
> necessary.  Even a very slight asymmetry in filing
> can move contact back or 
> forth, so I just hang straight between guides that
> are perhaps 10 hammers 
> apart.  
>    I also begin a replacement job with the hammer
> shanks all traveling 
> straight up and down, as measured by a square
> sitting on the whippen rail. I 
> space the shanks to begin their arc from directly
> over the whippen flange 
> screw and with equal distance between them at the
> knuckle.  This provides a 
> beginning alignment "framework" so that when
> decisions have to be made, I 
> know where I can safely depart from "ideal". 
>      I often find that grands require the bass
> hammers to be moved leftward, 
> and the middle section must be spaced to the right
> if I am to have all the 
> top end directly under the strings and directly over
> the whippen.  By 
> starting off with everything straight, I know how to
> split the difference so 
> that nobody is way off center,(which would require
> excessive spacing of 
> whippens, which leads to problems if the capstans
> are  not perfectly aligned, 
> and the same goes for the let-off buttons). 
>     I hate to burn shanks,(though I do), so I really
> want to know that they 
> are traveling straight before the hammers go on
> them.  Also, especially in 
> regard to Steinways, once I know that they are
> traveling straight,  I know 
> that I can space them with two equal-sized shims of
> brown paper tape used on 
> the diagonal and not change the traveling.  This is,
> ultimately, a time saver 
> when the greatest degree of perfection is the goal. 
> 
>      Sometimes it helps the speed of Steinway
> regulation to combine the 
> spacing and traveling, ie, if you know the hammer
> needs to strike farther to 
> the left, and it is traveling to the right, a simple
> spacing paper on the 
> right side of the flange will cure both at once. 
> And, if it is traveling 
> right, and hits the string just right, the Steinway
> flange allows one to shim 
> just the front right corner, so that the shank
> travels more to the left, but 
> the flange is swung to the right, keeping the
> contact correct, while making 
> the hammer travel straight up.  
> Regards, 
> Ed Foote RPT 
> _______________________________________________
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