Pianotech

 I have been working on a long neglected Young Chang with a Joe Pramberger design. The action brackets had grown and the spread was way out at the bass/low tenor. I used the new action brackets from Supply 88 which are excellent. Shaped the hammers to remove string cuts and flat strike points. I want to level the strings and get a good hammer to string mate however the piano itself is not level. It is on a truck and the left side needs to get shimmed to get level. What is the best way to do this and what type of material makes a durable shim ? I am thinking I could use my aluminum racing jack and a 4 x 4 pressure treated post to lift the front left side gently and slowly watching the bubble level sitting on the stretcher. I have the  brass string level I bought from Mother Goose tools as well as the Charles Falk string level tool. There definitely are some high and low strings but a voice in my head says that the piano should be level first. Any and all comments are welcome

What is level at the stretcher may not be the same at the strings. It's my understanding the Faulk levelling tool removes the bubble-levelled-string-surface variable.

 I have been working on a long neglected Young Chang with a Joe Pramberger design. The action brackets had grown and the spread was way out at the bass/low tenor. I used the new action brackets from Supply 88 which are excellent. Shaped the hammers to remove string cuts and flat strike points. I want to level the strings and get a good hammer to string mate however the piano itself is not level. It is on a truck and the left side needs to get shimmed to get level. What is the best way to do this and what type of material makes a durable shim ? I am thinking I could use my aluminum racing jack and a 4 x 4 pressure treated post to lift the front left side gently and slowly watching the bubble level sitting on the stretcher. I have the  brass string level I bought from Mother Goose tools as well as the Charles Falk string level tool. There definitely are some high and low strings but a voice in my head says that the piano should be level first. Any and all comments are welcome

What is level at the stretcher may not be the same at the strings. It's my understanding the Faulk levelling tool removes the bubble-levelled-string-surface variable.

 I have been working on a long neglected Young Chang with a Joe Pramberger design. The action brackets had grown and the spread was way out at the bass/low tenor. I used the new action brackets from Supply 88 which are excellent. Shaped the hammers to remove string cuts and flat strike points. I want to level the strings and get a good hammer to string mate however the piano itself is not level. It is on a truck and the left side needs to get shimmed to get level. What is the best way to do this and what type of material makes a durable shim ? I am thinking I could use my aluminum racing jack and a 4 x 4 pressure treated post to lift the front left side gently and slowly watching the bubble level sitting on the stretcher. I have the  brass string level I bought from Mother Goose tools as well as the Charles Falk string level tool. There definitely are some high and low strings but a voice in my head says that the piano should be level first. Any and all comments are welcome

 I have been working on a long neglected Young Chang with a Joe Pramberger design. The action brackets had grown and the spread was way out at the bass/low tenor. I used the new action brackets from Supply 88 which are excellent. Shaped the hammers to remove string cuts and flat strike points. I want to level the strings and get a good hammer to string mate however the piano itself is not level. It is on a truck and the left side needs to get shimmed to get level. What is the best way to do this and what type of material makes a durable shim ? I am thinking I could use my aluminum racing jack and a 4 x 4 pressure treated post to lift the front left side gently and slowly watching the bubble level sitting on the stretcher. I have the  brass string level I bought from Mother Goose tools as well as the Charles Falk string level tool. There definitely are some high and low strings but a voice in my head says that the piano should be level first. Any and all comments are welcome

 I have been working on a long neglected Young Chang with a Joe Pramberger design. The action brackets had grown and the spread was way out at the bass/low tenor. I used the new action brackets from Supply 88 which are excellent. Shaped the hammers to remove string cuts and flat strike points. I want to level the strings and get a good hammer to string mate however the piano itself is not level. It is on a truck and the left side needs to get shimmed to get level. What is the best way to do this and what type of material makes a durable shim ? I am thinking I could use my aluminum racing jack and a 4 x 4 pressure treated post to lift the front left side gently and slowly watching the bubble level sitting on the stretcher. I have the  brass string level I bought from Mother Goose tools as well as the Charles Falk string level tool. There definitely are some high and low strings but a voice in my head says that the piano should be level first. Any and all comments are welcome

I have the Mother Goose level which indicates a low left side. How much ? I will try my digital I-gauge level. I will use the Faulk tool once I find the ruler that goes with it . Thanks for responses

 I have been working on a long neglected Young Chang with a Joe Pramberger design. The action brackets had grown and the spread was way out at the bass/low tenor. I used the new action brackets from Supply 88 which are excellent. Shaped the hammers to remove string cuts and flat strike points. I want to level the strings and get a good hammer to string mate however the piano itself is not level. It is on a truck and the left side needs to get shimmed to get level. What is the best way to do this and what type of material makes a durable shim ? I am thinking I could use my aluminum racing jack and a 4 x 4 pressure treated post to lift the front left side gently and slowly watching the bubble level sitting on the stretcher. I have the  brass string level I bought from Mother Goose tools as well as the Charles Falk string level tool. There definitely are some high and low strings but a voice in my head says that the piano should be level first. Any and all comments are welcome

James - think some more.  What do we assume?  How many of these elements are always consistently level/paralell? keybed; hammer rail; stretcher; plate; string plane; agraffes; ?   

When I'm feeling obsessive, I cross reference two Goss gauges (one of which is modified to reduce weight), a Faulk, and Chris Brown's under-string gauge, which registers string orientation from the keybed.  Sometimes I can even get all of them to agree.  Each has its limitations.  Clearly, the Goss bubble loves a piano level with the earth, but, as Wim suggests, one can simply register any discrepancy and duplicate it throughout, though, in fact, that assumes a greater degree of consistency in the design execution than might be warranted, or necessary.

My problem with the concept of the Faulk is actually similar to the dilemma regarding squaring of naturals in a crowned keyboard: do we true the key surface to the flat edge and then crown the level, or 'square' the key to mate the key surface with the crowned profile?   Some years ago, Ben Gac told us, at a chapter meeting at Steinway, that the prefered method was the former, producing key surfaces parallel to the floor, but slightly stepping from one to the next.  

While the Faulk is not affected by any unlevelness of the piano itself, it does reflect anomolies in the string plane, either a curve or possible inconsistencies in agraffe heights or drilling.

If I'm in a situation where it's easy to have the action out, I prefer using the Grandworks gauge https://grandwork.tools/collections/all 

though I'll admit it's become rather pricey.   

In the end, you'll still have to fit your hammers to what's there.

I have the Mother Goose level which indicates a low left side. How much ? I will try my digital I-gauge level. I will use the Faulk tool once I find the ruler that goes with it . Thanks for responses

 I have been working on a long neglected Young Chang with a Joe Pramberger design. The action brackets had grown and the spread was way out at the bass/low tenor. I used the new action brackets from Supply 88 which are excellent. Shaped the hammers to remove string cuts and flat strike points. I want to level the strings and get a good hammer to string mate however the piano itself is not level. It is on a truck and the left side needs to get shimmed to get level. What is the best way to do this and what type of material makes a durable shim ? I am thinking I could use my aluminum racing jack and a 4 x 4 pressure treated post to lift the front left side gently and slowly watching the bubble level sitting on the stretcher. I have the  brass string level I bought from Mother Goose tools as well as the Charles Falk string level tool. There definitely are some high and low strings but a voice in my head says that the piano should be level first. Any and all comments are welcome