I Don't Own a Spoon Bender
Wim Blees, RPT
Birmingham Chapter, PTG
One of the first tools I was told to buy when I got into this business was a spoon bender. Somehow I learned to use it; although, as with most of us, it was not exactly one of my favorite tools. I don't know when I lost it, but I have not used a spoon bender for at least 10 years. As in any situation when the right tool is not available, one improvises. Because I don't own a spoon bender, I have learned a different way to bend spoons.
Before we start bending spoons, we should know why they need to be adjusted in the first place. First and foremost is the wear on the damper lifter felts, right where the spoons hit them. I have found felts that were so worn out that spoons were actually hitting against the wood of the levers. If you should run across this, I would highly recommend that all the felts be replaced. This is an important procedure, but it should be discussed at some other time.
Another reason spoons need to be adjusted is because of the wear of the damper felts themselves. With age, these compress, which has an effect on spoon timing. And last, but not least, the reason spoons need to be adjusted is because other technicians have tried to "regulate" them. Enough said.
Before we can adjust spoons, we need to know what the correct spoon adjustment has to be. Dampers should come away from the strings when the hammer is one third to one half the distance toward the string, or when the key is one third or one half of the way down. (Provided there is no lost motion). For pad dampers the timing is not too critical, but in order for bi- and tri-chord dampers to clear the strings, the timing is very crucial. Sometimes half way to the strings is not enough.
Before we adjust spoons, of course, we need to make sure all the dampers are adjusted properly with the damper lift pedal. When there are some dampers lifting way too soon at one end, but hardly at all at the other end, that might indicate that the lifter rod is bent, or one of the lifter rod brackets is broken. Again, repairing that is beyond the scope of this article, but this should definitely be done before any damper lift adjustments are done.
Before making any adjustment, when you look at them, how do you know which dampers are coming off the string correctly, and which need to be adjusted? You don't know, but I use the biggest common denominator. Look at all of them and find when most of them lift, and adjust the rest accordingly. The proper adjustment for the damper lift is when the dampers follow the strings when they are pressed, but also when the bi- and tri-chord dampers clear the strings when the pedal is pressed.
To adjust the dampers, step on the pedal enough to make the dampers just barely move. They don't even have to come off the strings. For those dampers that are not moving, adjust the damper wire with an offset damper regulating tool. To make sure the damper felt stays square against the strings is a two-step process. To move the damper away from the string, bend the bottom (closest to the damper lever) of damper wire out, then bend top forward. On bass and tri-chord treble dampers, you might also need to make some side-to-side adjustment. Again, in two stages, the bottom first followed by the top.
Not until all the dampers are lifting at the same time with the pedal rod, it is time to adjust the damper lift by regulating the spoon. As I said earlier, dampers should start lifting away from the strings when the hammer is between one third and one half toward the string. (Or when the key is between one third and one half of the way down).
When the damper lifts too soon, it means the spoon is too close to the damper lever, and the spoon needs to be bent toward the front of the piano. To do this without a spoon bender, press a screw driver against the top of the damper lever just above the damper lever spring, and lift the bottom of the wippen. The spoon will press against the lifter felt and be bent forward. Another way to do this, is to hold on to the top of the damper with your finger, and give the key one or two sharp blows. You won't get as drastic results with this because there is too much give in the damper wire, but it is a good way to make very minor adjustments. Repeat either of these methods until the desired timing has been achieved.
When the damper lifts too late, it means the spoon is too far away from the damper lever, and the spoon needs to be bent closer to the lifter felt. To do this without a spoon bender is a little more complicated, but not very difficult. It will mean removing the fall board and key up-stop rail. (You probably have to do this even if you have a spoon bender).
First, remove the key and disengage the bridle strap. This will allow the wippen to fall down. At this point, the wippen is being held up by the spoon resting against the back of the action rail. To bend the spoon toward the damper lever, gently press down on the wippen. In most cases you can feel the spoon bend. A word of caution, here. Some spoons are made of a harder metal than others. So be very careful when you press down on the wippen, because you might break the wippen flange or the wippen itself. If this should happen, you'll need to adjust the spoons another way, which will be discussed later.
On most upright pianos, especially in the treble and upper treble section, the adjacent keys get in the way of the wippen. In that case, just remove the adjacent keys. When there is a whole section that needs to be adjusted, disengage all the bridle straps and remove all the keys, and let the wippens hang down. Although they will not hang down evenly, you can get a sense of how much each one of them needs to be pressed down, and you can do all of them at the same time. Then just put the keys back in, and adjust a few here and there as needed.
A word of caution. DO NOT DO THIS ON AN ACTION WITH PLASTIC PARTS or very old pianos with brittle wooden parts. The parts, especially the plastic ones, are not strong enough to withstand the pressure of bending spoons in this manner. But then, a spoon bender will most likely break the wippen flanges anyway. It is also a little more difficult to do spinet actions this way, especially to move the spoons towards the damper levers.
In the event you do have an old piano, or an action with plastic parts, there is an alternate method of adjusting spoons without using a spoon bender. First you need to find two or three dampers, preferably one in each section, where the timing is correct, and mark them. Then remove the action and put it in a cradle. With the dampers facing you, prop up the damper lifter rod with a screw driver so that the correct dampers just barely "wink" when you push up on the wippens. Then adjust all the spoons with the damper regulating tool to make all the dampers "wink" the same way.
Although I have found this method to be not as effective, it is in my opinion, still easier than working a spoon bender between the wippens. I've seen factory people using a spoon bender with great accuracy and speed. But these people do 15 - 20 pianos a day, week after week. We, on the other hand, adjust spoons once or twice a year, if that much. So learning to use a spoon bender is not exactly one of our priorities. I hope that the method I described will help make this job a little easier.
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