The Refurbishing Process
Refurbishing: Action
The "action," pictured above, is the mechanical heart of the piano. It is a ridiculously complex structure containing nearly five thousand parts, a large percentage of which are moving parts. Below is a short list of what we do with an action.
Cleaning
The action is removed from the piano and thoroughly blown with compressed air. You would be astonished how much dust accumulates in the wool and felt, causing odor and gumming up the moving parts.
Screw tightening
Loose screws cause a woody noise when playing the piano and allow parts to slip out of alignment. The minimum number of screws to tighten is 264 (hammer flange, damper flange, whippen flange). Many of these screws are hiding behind other parts and require special tools to access. Depending on the design and condition of the action, there may be hundreds of additional screws to tighten.
Lubrication
The pivot points in an action consist of a tiny nickle rod called a center pin and a surrounding bushing of very thin felt (pictured above). A special lubricant called Protek is applied to every pivot point in the action. This seals the felt from moisture and prevents oxidation. It also reduces friction so that each key is light and responsive, and feels identical to its neighbor.
Regulation
Regulation is the adjustment of various action part relationships in order to refine the piano's touch, sensitivity, and performance. Regulation is the single most important refurbishing step and the thing most sorely missing from older pianos. We adjust the keys' depth of travel (called "key dip"). We make an adjustment called "lost motion" to ensure that each key can be repeated quickly. We adjust the distance from the string that a hammer will begin to pull back (called "letoff"), eliminating double-strikes and improving the piano's ability to be played very softly. We adjust the distance from the string that the hammer will be caught (called "backchecking") to improve repetition speed.
All of this results in a piano whose touch performance is as close to new as possible.
>>>Next: Refurbishing Hammers and Tone
The "action," pictured above, is the mechanical heart of the piano. It is a ridiculously complex structure containing nearly five thousand parts, a large percentage of which are moving parts. Below is a short list of what we do with an action.
Cleaning
The action is removed from the piano and thoroughly blown with compressed air. You would be astonished how much dust accumulates in the wool and felt, causing odor and gumming up the moving parts.
Screw tightening
Loose screws cause a woody noise when playing the piano and allow parts to slip out of alignment. The minimum number of screws to tighten is 264 (hammer flange, damper flange, whippen flange). Many of these screws are hiding behind other parts and require special tools to access. Depending on the design and condition of the action, there may be hundreds of additional screws to tighten.
Lubrication
The pivot points in an action consist of a tiny nickle rod called a center pin and a surrounding bushing of very thin felt (pictured above). A special lubricant called Protek is applied to every pivot point in the action. This seals the felt from moisture and prevents oxidation. It also reduces friction so that each key is light and responsive, and feels identical to its neighbor.
Regulation
Regulation is the adjustment of various action part relationships in order to refine the piano's touch, sensitivity, and performance. Regulation is the single most important refurbishing step and the thing most sorely missing from older pianos. We adjust the keys' depth of travel (called "key dip"). We make an adjustment called "lost motion" to ensure that each key can be repeated quickly. We adjust the distance from the string that a hammer will begin to pull back (called "letoff"), eliminating double-strikes and improving the piano's ability to be played very softly. We adjust the distance from the string that the hammer will be caught (called "backchecking") to improve repetition speed.
All of this results in a piano whose touch performance is as close to new as possible.
>>>Next: Refurbishing Hammers and Tone