Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum Any Way to Ease Tight Key Centers w/o Removing Stack/Keys?

I do a lot of tune & prep for one of the largest Yamaha dealers on the West Coast. For quite a while now, most of the new Yamaha Grands of all lengths have been coming in with overly tight, sticky key center holes. You can always tell by lifting upward on the keys an 1/8" and watching them stay up, instead of falling back into place. It doesn't seem to affect the fluid playing of the action much, but if they're that tight, you know there's some extra friction...so the dealer wants me to ease all tight center holes as part of prepping the pianos for sale.

This is quite a hassle, as taking off the stack and removing eack key one at a time to carefully do just the right amount of center hole reaming easily adds 1 hour to the prep. On their Disklavier models it can add 1.5 hours because you first need to carefully remove the hammer sensor rails.

I don't know of any way to open these holes up just enough to prevent sticking when lifted, other than removing each key and cautiously reaming...but perhaps someone here does. Has anyone found a method of slightly, slightly enlarging the hole while the stack is still on and the keys are still in place on the pins?

Certainly, I can take the time and present bigger prep bills for each new Yamaha. But the dealer gripes about my price-per-new-piano-prep (I'm already doing full string seating, regulation improvement and some voicing,) and personally, I think it's simply poor workmanship on Yamaha's part. There's no reason why, right at the moment assembling each keyboard, they can't take the time at the factory to make sure the keys aren't too tight. None of the other brands this dealer carries (Schimmel, Bosendorfer, even cheap Knabes from Korea) come through with sticky center holes (rant, rant )

The balance rail hole can tighten in drier climates. It will take two to four weeks for the piano to adjust to the reduced humidity of California. Have you attended Yamaha's tech school? The Little Red School House?

I don't know of any shortcuts to proper easing of the BR hole without removing the top action.

Loose BR holes really degrade action function and make more noise.

Thanks for replying Ed.

Funny, I would have thought the BR holes would loosen in a drier climate - moisture deficit usually equals wood retracting, not swelling & tightening around something. But if what you say is true, does that mean if we simply wait 4 weeks, the piano will adjust enough that easing isn't necessary?

Also, the dealership has pianos coming in from equally humid Pacific Rim countries, like Korea and Indonesia, as humid or more so than Japan. How come they come in with non-sticking BR holes?

Yes, I attended The Little Red School House. They didn't touch on this BR easing issue.

There is no quicker method of easing those balance rail openings. But, I would not call it 'reaming'. The Yamaha CF-tool is inserted and the opening is slightly widened at the tight spot with a quick twist. There is no loss of material or 'reaming' taking place.

I also use this opportunity to quickly lube the keypins, either with a quick spray of McLube or using Jim Coleman's spiffy tool (Coleman Tools; a keypin polisher that holds a stack of balance rail punchings in a tube) to put a dry film lubricant on the pins. You'll find a noticable improvement in any new piano with this simple treatment.

Personally; when I encounter a set of tight keypins in the home I tell the customer that it is a sign of Yamaha's attention to detail. Rather than overdoing the size of the hole, they tend to the tight side, which means that the piano keys remain tight longer. Sloppy keys are never a problem with Yamaha pianos. You are fitting the keys to the specific humidity and climate of the end-user. I rather admire this over the alternative....

Personally,

Thanks for replying Jeff. Yes, I agree it's not really reaming, just slightly opening the hole, and if there's no other way to do it, c'est la vie.

Personally...when all those other top piano brands (mentioned above) come in with "just right" keyholes, never too tight and never sloppy (even years later,) I would have to conclude Yamaha's too-tight start is not a praiseworthy attention to detail, but an unnecessary overcompensation that just makes more busy-work for the first technician. I prep Yamahas, Schimmels. Bosendorfers, Faziolis, Steinways, et al and then follow their life after sale to a customer for 10+ years, sometimes decades. Never had a problem with any of those other brands feeling sloppy when new, or becoming sloppy many years later, so I must conclude Yamaha is simply not getting it right at the start.

As Jeff said, you do need to get the stack off and remove the keys. While a "balance hole easer" (JKE-3 or JCH-23 in the Pianotek Supply catalog, page D-27) MAY be the tool for the job, the "balance hole reamer" (KCS-1B, Renner also makes essentially the same tool) may be the proper solution if the mortise wasn't properly drilled. It certainly is for many Korean and Chinese made pianos I have encountered. The reamer doesn't change the dimension of the bottom of the balance rail hole, but it clears material that may improperly bind on the key pin. Put the key on a flat metal surface so the reamer doesn't go deeper than intended. Blow the wood dust out of the mortise, and polish those keys while you've got the chance.

Couple of (possibly unorthodox) thoughts . . .

1) 1 hr seems a long time to pull off stack, ease keyholes, lube keypins, etc with McLube and reinstall. But that could also be an educational opportunity for you with the dealer: "Hey, look at this".

2) In the "try and see if it works" category -- remove the keystop rail, push up the keys and from the underside of the keyframe (I'd have on end, actually) apply McLube with a brush to the balance rail keypins above the punchings. It won't work on seriously rigid balance holes, but if it's moderate, it might be worth a try.

Greetings,
If the keys are binding, then to do a proper job requires them to come off. They have to have their sole thickness right, and the enlargement of the hole should be just enough for it to fall,with control, under its own weight. I strive to have less tension bearing on the sides of the balance rail hole than the fore and aft portions. The bushing shouldn't be adding any drag, either. If you are prepping a new piano, the whole thing shouldn't add more than 1/2 hour, unless every key needs every treatment.

Regards,

Thanks guys. Not every sticky Yamaha has required a full hour (pembrook) but when they're sticky, it usually is every key that needs hole enlargement, and it rarely takes as little as a half-hour (Foote.)

As for showing the dealer, "Hey look at this," he's seen it, he gets it, and he wants them all unstuck. So I'll take the stack off and enlarge each key's BR...and charge him accordingly. I was just trying to find a possible way of saving him a bit of payroll, and saving myself some time. Sometimes they want me to tune & prep 5+ pianos in a day, and if they're all Schimmels & Boseys, I can get through that fine. If they're all sticky Yamahas, it can narrow me down to just finishing 2 or 3. So I'm feeling a little gripey about Yamahas quality control, and I don't buy the "humid Japan factory" or "good attention to detail" reasons above...they're not logical.

But it is what it is, Yamaha is obviously not gonna make sure their keys drop of their own weight before packing/shipping them (as simple as that would be,) so I'll take the stacks/keys off and get the work done, no prob. Thanks for your responses

Actually, if there is a quality control problem with Yamaha, I would suggest bringing it to their attention. I have done it with a couple of issues.

When a piece of wood is placed in a drier atmosphere, it gets smaller. Thus any hole in the piece of wood gets smaller as well.

This is not what I've seen so far. In a humid season tuning pins get tighter than in a dry season.

Wood swells with moisture, in consequence, if there is a hole in the wood, it becomes smaller.

Pinblocks are usually a laminated structure-the overall size of the panel is restrained from changing due to cross grain wood movement differentials. Plus the wood contacting the pin is highly compressed and will "fatten" up around the pin when humidity rises.