Leveling Sticks WAS: Steinway D key levelling (Hamburg model)

[Bill Ballard]

At 3:53 PM -0600 10/19/03, Nichols wrote:
>>The (old) weights I have with the tacks cast into them are about 
>>87g each, and let you position them somewhere between the capstan 
>>and backcheck. They let you remove and replace keys easily without 
>>falling off too, which is nice. They also leave numerous holes in 
>>both the keys and your fingers, which is somewhat less nice. 
>>Another of life's little tradeoffs.
>
>Ron N
>
>I forget where I learned it, but the fender washers on allthread 
>trick seems to work pretty good for me. Relatively consistent, easy 
>to lift the keys, etc., etc. Using 3/8 allthread, with washers that 
>have a 5/8 hole, the "travel" is enough to lift a key without 
>removing the weight. Placed between the capstan and the backcheck. 
>About 4 washers per note. Haven't weighed 'em, don't care. Not 
>cheap, though, nowadays. The dern washers add up when you get enough 
>to make a 20" section!

Actually, going section by section, instead of (oh, the price tag) an 
88 note weight rod, might be a little unstable. If the key frame is 
forced into conformity with the keybed, only in that one section, 
then the other sections are free to lift as they please. This would 
leave that section being leveled without the influences of the other 
sections of the frame. That is, with the action frame fastened and 
the Top Action Weight on the caps. The better bedded the frame is, 
the less error might hide here.

I had been thinking of something similar, except with tapered weights 
which hung loosely on the rod, like beads on an abacus (or "washers" 
on a pool hall score line). Doing an entire keyboard shouldn't be too 
unwieldy. The individual weights could be spaced to put one to a key. 
The tapering of the weights should resemble a Top Action Weight curve.

I'm sure this has been tried before (and possibly discarded). How 
'bout RicB applying some of his magnetism to this job. For instance a 
magnetic strip which would form a clip around the top of that far 
side of a key, which would locate and secure a magnetic weight.

And yes, Ron, about those vampire bite marks, well. Leveling is only 
done at 60,000 mile intervals.  It's only done with the knowledge 
that it will leave unsightly scars which will speak badly of us when 
we're not around. Hey, abuse is abuse, and the public is obliged to 
report us. <g>

Bill Ballard RPT
NH Chapter, P.T.G.

"Lady, this piano is what it is, I am what I am, and you are what you are"
     ...........From a recurring nightmare.
+++++++++++++++++++++