Comment from Jon Page: "On those 12 notes, if the UW is also above the others, there is a lack of lead in the front of the key. If the friction is the same, lead deficiency."
That is the conclusion I finally came to. My measurements reveal that there is not a friction problem, but the heavier notes do have UW above the others. Additionally there is very little leading in the keys. This makes me think I should add lead to the 12 heavy keys.
When I started the project I did not take DW and UW measurements of all 88 keys. I only took measurements of all the C notes. That was a mistake, I'll call it a lesson learned. At the completion of the project I measured DW and UW of all the keys and at that point saw the 12 notes that were too heavy. I now believe that was the situation before I did any work. However since I did not measure all of the notes I was not aware of that.
Thanks for all of the input.
David Weiss
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David Weiss
Charlottesville VA
434-823-9733
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-06-2018 20:46
From: Jon Page
Subject: 12 heavy notes
On those 12 notes, if the UW is also above the others, there is a lack of lead in the front of the key. If the friction is the same, lead deficiency.
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Regards,
Jon Page
Original Message:
Sent: 07-06-2018 17:36
From: David Weiss
Subject: 12 heavy notes
Thanks for all of the replies. I did not have a chance to get to the shop today. I'll be there tomorrow to check my numbers and run through some of the suggestions.
I did take a quick look at my sheet of down weights and up weights and friction everywhere is between 8 and 12 grams, so that is not the main culprit. I also looked at my chart of hammer weights and it corroborated what I had said earlier, the weight of the new hammers matched the old ones very closely. I was also very careful after replacing the key bushings to make sure all of the balance rail holes were free. Also I have already checked very carefully for any rubbing parts and did not see any.
Still, I never trust my self completely, so I will re-examine all of this tomorrow with the suggestions from the list in mind.
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David Weiss
Charlottesville VA
434-823-9733
Original Message:
Sent: 07-06-2018 10:04
From: David Doremus
Subject: 12 heavy notes
This may be obvious but I've had occasional friction issues with knuckles rubbing against their neighbors. And also back checks. Like Karl suggested with hammers, I'd eliminate parts interference first. If downweight is 70 some and upweight is "normal" so about 20-25, than that's way too much friction. Or am I missing something?
---Dave
Sent from my phone, forgive typos!
Original Message------
Hello,
I am seeking help solving a problem. The piano is a 1988 Baldwin L. I did some action work; new hammers, shanks, replaced the key bushings and regulated. It was all pretty straight forward.
Before I did any work I measured all the down weights and up weights. Most of the down weights were between 58 and 61 and up weights were in the normal range. Although I thought it was a little bit heavy the client liked the way the action played and did not want to change that.
With the work that has been done so far the down weights and up weights are almost exactly the same, except on 12 notes. There are 12 notes that have down weights between 68 and 70 grams. They are mostly in the low bass but also 2 in the low tenor.
I cannot find any friction problem or any reason for these 12 notes to be different, and play so much heavier than the others. The key bushings are free, they are not rubbing on their neighbors. Key pins and capstans were polished and then I applied teflon powder. Knuckles and whippens heels also burnished with teflon power.
I'm supposed to return it Monday, but I can't bring it back with 12 notes so radically different from the others.
I've trying to figure this out and so far have not been successful.
Thanks,
David Weiss