Question from a rank amatuer

[Joe And Penny Goss]

Hi Christopher,
The lost mosion term refers to the space needed for "Jack" to  <return>
under Hammer Butt.
That is the issue, not the different methods that have been mentioned to
check for lost motion. The term is some what confusing for there needs to be
some lost motion. The wear on the action is one determining factor in
judging the amount needed.
Other things, will some times  negate any setting you make. If the keys are
light at the capstan and heavy at the front, there will always be contact
with the wippen heel, thus pushing the jack up into contact with the heel,
and also causing key hight problems. Heel divots can also cause one to
whisper under ones breath. <g>
Joe Goss RPT
Mother Goose Tools
imatunr at srvinet.com
www.mothergoosetools.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Christopher Thomas" <cthomas at rtkl.com>
To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, May 06, 2006 2:10 PM
Subject: Question from a rank amatuer


I am not a piano technician by profession or training. For reasons I will
describe presently, I have been a member of your group for a short while,
and have been very impressed by what I have read.

I am an architect who - for reasons of trying to keep his sanity after
hours - has been restoring a 1910 Brambach piano. I have read Arthur
Reblitz's book cover to cover several times now, Piano Action repairs and
maintenance by K.T. Kennedy, and any number of tretise that is posted
on-line (such as Bill Spurlock's "Regulating Tips").

I am writing this with some trepidation. I certainly hate amatuers' forrays
into my field - especially ones who have read books prepared for amatuers
such as the ones I have listed above. As I said earlier, I have been greatly
impressed by the ongoing discussions of this group, because the range of the
art, technical and professional subjects in many ways mirrors my own (I have
particularly enjoyed the thread on ethics over the past few days as it shows
a very high degree of professionalism within the world of piano technicians.

So, in reading all of these exchanges over the past few days, one has
particularly mistified me, and it relates to the work I am about to do on
the Brambach. In the general discussion on lost motion what I do not get, is
that my understanding is that the capstan should adjust the height of the
hammer at rest and should therefore be always engaged on the lever heel of
the wippen. Yet, I have read - as a part of the lost motion thread - the
notion that every force and movement on the key should have show on the
hammer. So my question is, if the capstan is always engaged with the heel,
then there could never be lost motion except if the punchings below the keys
were compressing. I am trying to think all this through as I am about to
install a new set of hammers (you may think I am brave as an amatuer, but if
you paid for this piano what I did, it is a cheap thrill), and after that
will go through the whole regulating regemine...

 You are all welcome to poke fun at me, and I promise, once I get this done
to always hire a professional in the future.