Whenever the subject of grand action regulating comes up, the thoughts always turn to benches, key levelers, and let-off racks. As others gloat about how they designed their own bench tops to try to duplicate the piano’s keybed, I usually wander off shaking my head asking myself, why so much bother when they could just use the piano itself? I agree that many of the procedures in the 50-point checklist must be done in the shop. These include such repairs as rebushing keys, refelting the keyframe, replacing keytops, etc.
However, many of the
steps that may be done in the shop can also be done at the piano, or at least
in the customer’s home. These would include such things as reshaping hammers, repairing
action centres, polishing capstans, cleaning knuckles, etc. If the piano is not
already in the shop for rebuilding, I much prefer to work right in the customer’s
home. I have no need for an elaborate bench top, let-off racks, or Jarvas type
key levelers! As a bench, I use the keybed of the piano, or if need be, my lap
or the piano’s lid (padded of course with a moving pad). Instead of a let-off
rack, I use the strings themselves (far easier and more accurate). In place of
a key leveler I use a small straightedge about 15” long which I carry in my
case.
Also in my case is a
good supply of punchings and other repair items so that I can arrive at a home
to tune the piano, and end up staying there all day, reshaping hammers, doing
action repairs, and a complete action regulation. I don’t work out of a large van
either. In fact, many days I work out of a motorcycle! With experience I know
what to bring to be prepared for the day’s troubles. In most cases, the customer
would rather that I work on the piano in her home. She can watch what I am
doing, the piano is not out of commission any longer than need be, and if any
unexpected repairs crop up, l can consult with the owner while at the piano. It
is certainly easier on me since I often work many miles from home, and it is
awfully hard to carry a grand action home on my motorcycle.
These reasons for
working at the piano are secondary. Of real importance is the reduced time to
complete the work (which means more money) and greater accuracy. Let us make a
comparison of two equally fast working technicians, one who regulates at the
piano, the other who carts the action back to the shop. Let’s pick a
ten-year-old piano which has had normal usage. All that is needed are the usual
minor adjustments to the action as a result of a little wear and settling in of
the action parts, reshaping and voicing of the hammers, and tuning.
The first technician,
who regulates at the piano, immediately proceeds to reshape the hammers. This
can be done by turning the action around in the piano with the hammers facing the
technician, or else putting the action on top of the piano. He then takes apart
the action, removes the keys, reinstalls the action without the keys, and
cleans everything prepatory to bedding the keyframe. After bedding he aligns
all of the action parts, using thestrings ofthe piano as his guide. Next, he
regulates the action mechanism in the piano, and lastly tunes and voices
it. Approximate time: one working day.
The second technician,
who is going to regulate the action at his shop, takes the essential
measurements of key height, string height, and touch depth. He then carts the
action out to his vehicle (trying not to hit anything on the way out and hoping
not to drop the action while opening the doors). After the long drive home he
carts the action into his shop, clears off a working area on his bench, gets
out his letoff rack and key leveler and begins to work. Approximate delay time:
1/2 hour plus the driving time! Another 1/4 hour is spent trying to shim the
action so that the key heights and key dip measurements he took in the piano are
duplicated on the bench.
This technician also
begins by reshaping the hammers (a good place to begin). However, he cannot bed
the keyframe as he is not at the piano. Hopefully the keyframe was already bedded
correctly as he must now set the key level, adjust the blow, let-off, dip, etc.
When this second technician realizes that the hammers and whippens are not
aligned, it is too late, as he has already filed the hammers and removed all
traces of the string grooves. With nothing to do any aligning with, he
completes the regulation process as well as he can. When the action is returned
to the piano, he will bed the keyframe and do any aligning there.
He now returns the
action to the home. Upon checking the bedding, he finds that the piano was never
properly bedded at the factory (the studs were too far down, making the action
rock). Upon correcting the bedding of the keyframe he checks the key level. Not
only is it off, but the dip is now shallow and the piano won’t even play! Two
hours later after releveling the keys and resetting the dip, he checks the blow
and letoff. The blow is now off since he had to relevel the keys, and the
let-off is too far from the strings (he must have set the let-off rack a little
too low).
By the time he has finished,
he has had to reregulate the entire action, this time at the piano. Approximate
total time spent, is twice as long as the first technician. Now, I realize this
may be an extreme case. The second technician could have saved much of the
duplication, if he had: 1) made sure that the keyframe was properly bedded to
the keybed, 2) levelled the keys at the piano (a must), 3) set sample keys to
the correct blow, let-off, drop, dip and back- check before removing the action
to his shop, and 4) aligned the hammers to the strings while still in the home.
In taking these
precautions, a technician can accurately regulate at the bench. Obviously
though, more time must be spent in going back to the shop. Making sure that the
keyframe is bedded to the keybed is not always a five-minute procedure. If the
piano is like a Steinway where the glide studs are adjusted with a tuning
hammer, one can grab hold of these studs and by lifting and tapping do a fairly
good job at bedding. But what if the action is like one where the studs barely
poke through the keyframe and are adjusted with a screwdriver? You must
disassemble the entire action to properly bed this keyframe! If you have to go
to that much trouble, why not stay at the home and finish everything there?
Next month we will
finally begin Section IV, The Touch portion of the 50 -point checklist. As we
talk through the various steps, I will be speaking from the viewpoint of doing
everything at the piano, in the home. Even though you do not use this method, I
am sure that some helpful hints can be gained.
I remember once asking
one of the older, wiser technicians who attended every piano tuners guild
meeting that he could, why did he continue to come so often, since he already
knew so much? His response has stuck with me ever since: “I try to pick up on
something that will help me in my jobs each day. I can usually learn at least
one good idea. If not, then I can learn how not to do something so that I won’t
have to learn the hard way!“
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