Pedalboard spring mechanism

[shivasage]

Hello everyone. I wasn't quite sure where to put this, so apologies if there's a better forum.

I'm in the process of designing a pedalboard for a pedal clavichord and have been looking at organ pedalboards for inspiration. I'm interested in the spring/hinge mechanism used at the heel of the pedal. Looking through the Laukhuff and Organ Supply catalogs, I see straight pieces of steel and pieces with an S-bend. Does anyone know why one vs. the other would be used? Also, regarding the springs underneath the toe of the pedal, are these simply to provide a bit of extra tension when pushing a key?

EDIT: I also saw that one of the pedalboards in the Laukhuff catalog uses a different pivoting mechanism. Does anyone know this works?

[toodles]

The springs at the toe end of the pedals are called "compass" springs, as they look like a compass (set of compasses, as for drawing a circle). To my knowledge they are used instead of rear springs (flat or bent) rather than "in addition to".

As to why choose one over the other, I suspect they just evolved from different builders, who found it easier to use one form other another--I don't think there is any superiority in any method, though I suspect the compass type spring is theoretically a better choice, as it places the flexion over a larger area, so the stress at any point is less, for longer life. in actual practice, though, I doubt it matters much.

Certainly a flat spring at the back of the pedals is easier to install and requires less woodworking.

[shivasage]

Ah, that makes sense. Yeah, the flat ones are definitely simpler considering that even if I used the compass springs I'd still need to attach the heel of the pedal to the back rail with somewhat flexible material. Might as well kill two birds with one stone.