Filing over-needled hammers

[Kent Swafford]

I have a bit of a situation with a B in the studio of a concert pianist.  
The studio is a "voicing-intensive" situation and the hammers have been 
over-needled with glover's needles.

(FWIW, I don't use glover's needles and strongly recommend against them, 
based on the damage I have seen done with them.  They slice hammer felt 
open.)

A large number of these hammers are split open on the surfaces of the 
crown on either side of the striking area.  Smooth shaping while filing 
is impossible due to the fact that the wool that is pushed into the 
crevices during filing strokes is not removed, and builds up as ridges.

The piano does not sound all that bad yet, but my thoughts on this could 
change if I get a phone message to the contrary in the next few days.

Obviously, the hammers will have to be replaced shortly, but I need to 
keep this piano functionioning during the months that it will take to 
schedule new hammers.

I have considered soaking the hammers with an extremely dilute juice, 
hoping that the fibers would hang together enough afterwords to 
facilitate good shaping.

Any thoughts?

Kent Swafford
University of Missouri-Kansas City, Conservatory of Music