Tom,
I've installed two top actions from WNG, and attended their week-long class at the Haverhill factory. My first experience was with an early incarnation of the composite parts with hard bushings (which came just after the wool bushings). We also did one very recent set this summer. I like the results of both, but there was a learning curve.
The hard bushings promise to last a very long time. I had the good fortune to be at the factory training class in Haverhill when test shanks arrived, having been subjected to millions of blows on a player grand. Wood and wool parts were played for weeks along side composite and hard bushings. The wool bushings were completely destroyed. There was very little bushing cloth left in the holes. The striking surface of the hammers were worn flat from flailing around. In sharp contrast, the hard bushings showed very little wear. The striking surface of the hammers had crisp string cuts. I'm sure there was a little slop, and the friction had decreased to zero, but the bushings were still functioning long after the traditional wool had been worn down to the wood.
But... Hard bushings are a bit of a pain to pin up or down to friction targets. The tools and pins are not compatible with our old wool bushing tools. The center pins vary by 0.0001, not 0.001. The centers are expanded by pressing in "reamers" which compress the plastic, rather than cut it. Getting the pinning just right and keeping it there is still a bit of an art. There is also risk involved. If you push too hard on the reamer, the plastic bushing may pop out of the flange or shank. They are only a press fit, not glued or fused. Once you pop them out, you can't pop them back in, because the likelihood of aligning the hole concentric with the other bushing is slim. You essentially have to toss the part. If you are in the field, you could rebush both bushings with cloth as an emergency fix. In the shop, we order replacement parts. The good news is that they come from the factory in pretty good shape, so pinning is limited to a few bushings here and there.
One thing I noticed when measuring bushing friction: The first move of a bushing seems to have a higher "breakaway" static friction than the second movement. I don't know if that goes away after the action is broken in, or if it is noticeable to the player. It is something I have been meaning to check on our older installation.
Regarding travelling, the first set I did seemed to be very consistent. I needed to travel 60 out of 88 shanks to the right. Just a little. The more recent set, which we ordered installed on a custom top action stack, was already traveled for us, didn't appear to have much paper, and I had very little touchup to do.
The flexibility of variable
height and location of wippen heels and knuckles allows very precise action ratio design. The variety of available flanges is wonderful. The ease of "burning" shanks to vertically align hammers is a joy.
I don't think I've heard enough of these actions yet to know exactly how they impact piano tone. I've been meaning to replace a few wooden shanks with composite here and there, using the same hammers (which need to be plugged and rebored to fit the smaller carbon shanks), just to do a side by side comparison. I've heard people describe the sound as "crisp", "fast blooming", and "almost electric". To me, they sound like pianos. Good pianos. Pianos with clean, firm bushings and stiff shanks. They don't sound like something from Mars.
Certainly, there are hundreds of these actions now in service in new Mason and Hamlin pianos, so tone and mechanical reliability data is being produced daily.
I really like the composite parts when they are part of the whole WNG system. The custom scale-stick boring of action rails, and assembly of parts, ready-to-install is a bargain. I would not hesitate to use their top actions again. In fact, I have a few proposals out with customers to do just that. If a piano has action rails of an obsolete design, or the original action geometry is way off, WNG is the way to go, hands down, based on cost and predictability of outcome. The cost/benefit becomes less clear if the original geometry is ok and the stack frame is in good shape. Wood wips and shanks are still competitive for "normal" size parts. I don't think I would use a new WNG top action for Steinways. Even if the original stack frame is shot, new frames are available from the Steinway factory for a reasonable price, and you can screw on genuine SS or clone parts and get good "authentic" results. Even though I think results are more important than authenticity, the resale value is a concern to many SS owners, and excellent results are still possible with genuine parts. All other pianos are potential WNG installs. Especially the really weird ones. Did I mention my second installation was a Kranich and Bach?
Photo attached shows the underside of a WNG top action while gluing wip heels in place. I ordered the heels "loose", and in several sizes, so we could optimize the geometry.
Note the WNG capstan mounted on a maple block on the key. By relocating the capstan, there is almost unlimited control over action ratio using WNG parts. Also visible are the new maple cleats on the keyframe, cut to place the top action at the correct height. I hung the hammers, rebushed the keys, and installed new backchecks. Result: A factory-new action.
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Greg Graham, RPT
Brodheadsville, PA
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-06-2012 04:40
From: Thomas Servinsky
Subject: Experiences with carbon fiber parts
List
I'm doing a technical for our chapter on "What's New in the Industry". One of the things to be discussed is the introduction of carbon fiber uses in the piano industry. In intend to cover carbon fiber action parts ( from Kawai and Wessel, Nickel, and Gross), carbon fiber tuning levers, and the new carbon fiber soundboards from Steingraeber. Since many of these applications are relatively new I have limited amounts of information as to how these products will hold up with time.
I'm curious as to your experiences with (specifically) the Wessel, Nickel, and Gross parts sold through Mason & Hamlin. I've yet to install any actions with these parts but would love to hear your experiences with the pros and cons from a rebuilders point of view.
Do you find them to be better, equal, or less than the traditional wood parts?
Is traveling of the parts dramatically reduced due to their uniformity?
Is there a marked difference in tonal power?
Any unusual issues with the parts behaving over time?
Have any of you had experiences with the Steingraeber " Phoenix" soundboards? I don't have any clients with this brand but understand the tonal qualities are quite impressive.
Thanks as always
Tom Servinsky
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