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MMD > Archives > May 2012 > 2012.05.25 > 06Prev  Next


Bending a Warped Piano Key
By John Phillips

August readers of MMD: here is yet another query relevant to my
ever-troublesome Steck upright player.  I've just taken the upper
player action out again (I can't seem to keep the wretched thing in
there), for one more back check adjustment.  However, on looking at
the array of keys thus fully exposed, I notice a problem.

Unlike all their brothers, two of the keys in the bass register,
at their rear ends, do not sit neatly under their relevant stickers.
In one case, the sticker is supported only by the edge of the capstan
at the back end of that key.  The capstan should be at least 1/8" to
3/16" to the right of where it is.  The other key is not so bad but
it still looks quite wrong.

The fronts of the keys line up pretty well with their neighbours, and
they are not tilted, so their balance rail pins don't seem to be at
fault.  For these two keys, the angle that the front half of the key
makes with the back half is wrong.  The keys need to be bent slightly
in the horizontal plane.

Is there a way of accomplishing this without having the ivory peel
off the fronts of the keys and, preferably, without losing the bushing
cloth inside the key button, and, finally, without warping the key in
any direction other than the horizontal?

John Phillips, in Hobart, Tasmania


(Message sent Sat 26 May 2012, 01:43:13 GMT, from time zone GMT+1000.)

Key Words in Subject:  Bending, Key, Piano, Warped

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