New topic: Lifting the Strings

[Isaac OLEG]

Hello Richard,

Thanks for your comments , I also have read your article on magnetic
balancing in the "EuroPiano Journal", and have find the explanations
very clear and reasonable !

I've been puzzled with those string's plane geometry for a long time,
mostly, why is not it more stable than that.

best Regards.

Isaac



-----Message d'origine-----
De : Richard Brekne [mailto:Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no]
Envoyé : samedi 17 avril 2004 12:27
À : oleg-i@noos.fr; Pianotech
Objet : Re: New topic: Lifting the Strings


Hi Issac

Just got done reading this a couple times through and wanted to
compiment you on one of your absolute best postings to date Issac.
Thanks for taking the time to write this one out.

Cheers
RicB


Isaac OLEG wrote:

>Lifting the strings with a hook does not destroy as much the tuning
as
>15 cts in my experience if the strings have settled when it is done .
>
>Actually, I more or less rely on my hammers strike plane to mate the
>strings, one have to be confident with its filing technique to get
>there. It does not avoid checking with a finger, or a little rule
that
>covers a few unisons (or have a look at the unavoidable slants with
>the help of a bubble level)
>
>a value of half these number seem more what I find.
>
>I had a look at the "accoustimate"  device and I am tempted to build
>one myself (it is sold 89 $ I guess, but with shipment costs it get
>much more to get there) . Does someone have dimensions of the device
?
>I also wonder if the roller can't be a little less large ? I guess it
>is a polyurethane roller, that can be find in any specialized shop.
>The squaring of the device may be important. I have seen stringers
>using some square wood block with a handle (a big dowel) covered with
>leather to straighten the large bends and at the same time warm the
>strings a tad to begin to get the slack out, but this was done from
>above, and it does not straighten very precisely the level.
>
>Working from under with some light pressure should certainly prove
>useful. and nowadays, using a good setup should provide some
evenness,
>that is very difficult to obtain with a hook, a rod or whatever,
>particularly if the dampers are mounted.
>
>The slant we find often in strings level is due to the fact the
>agrafes or capo are not always at the same orientation than the
>bridge, depending of the soundboard, the season, etc. Then if we
check
>the level behind the dampers we can see a tendency to slant ,while
the
>strings may well be level at the strike point. In short grand's we
>even can't check the level from above in front of the dampers often.
>
>Going one step farther, in some case to obtain a real level at the
>strike mean that the strings have to slant some near the agrafes, to
>compensate for an accentuated slant produced at the bridge. That mean
>that the information given by the little brass rule or the bubble
>gauge may be taken with a bit of salt, or decoded in regard of the
>level at the bridge for instance.
>
>So it is easier and faster to have mating done with the hammers as a
>reference, using a little brass rule to keep the eventual tendency
the
>same direction (and avoid for instance to slant the strings plane in
>every direction in case the strike level is not that perfect).
>
>Then if one want to have the best and durable fit, one can go thru
the
>long process of leveling again and again, till the end of the
>stringing process (before the dampers are mounted) till the string
>plane is almost perfect at the strike, but as this is a temporary
>state in some zone because of the soundboard shape changes with
>seasons, one may not be too perfect on this part of the job I
believe.
>Knowing the model we are working on may also help.
>
>Another thing goes in the equation , if it is a Steinway, the hammers
>are not centered on the unison, but spaced 1-3 2/3 , then the left
>side of the hammer wear faster, and mating have to be done more often
>than one wish.
>
>The same apply if the travel is not ideal .
>
>Do some of you find that feeling with a finger the unison plane can
be
>misleading ? some time it confirm what the hammer or the ruler shows,
>sometime the ruler shows a different height than I feel with my
>finger. That is a mystery to me (I have a good sensitive finger , as
>tested by a fingerologist each year to be sure, the curve actually is
>pretty even without lack of sensibility in no regions ;>)
>
>Best regards to all.
>
>Have a nice week end.
>
>Isaac OLEG
>
>
>
>