removal of lacquer/keytop

[jolly roger]

Hi Fred,
             I have found it benificial to wait at least 3 days before
starting to try to do the fine voicing. Depending on the juice that was
used, the hammers tend to brighten up quite a bit. 
   When key top hardener has been use, the piano will continue to brighten
over the next month.  I have been very pleased with the results by flushing
the material in deeper. I think it gives a firm foundation to the lower
shoulders, but leaves some elasticity to the outer layers of felt.  
Deep needling with 3,  1/2" intertions on the shoulders, while the hammers
are still wet also produces some very nice tone qualities. If you are
looking for a more romantic sound.   The needles just slide in real nice.
Sounds as off the wall as my steam ideas, but it is every bit as effective.
 With this type of hammer. ( Steam is not so effective on juiced hammers)
Just to be clear, this radical treatment, is for hammers that are useless
in their over bright condition. I reserve it for hammers that I'm thinking
of changing, and always have this option in my back pocket. The dozen or so
sets that I have done, replacement has been stalled, or averted.
On new Baldwin's that have been over juiced in the factory, I have been
extremely happy with the results, to the point, I'm wondering if when
juicing, the juice is applied first, then a solvent flush is applied to get
the hardener in deep.
We all know that we need flexibility on the shoulders for a wide tonal
pallet.  A lot of juicing we encounter it mainly surface juicing, which
really stiffens the whole shoulder, and tends to result in the vicious
attack type of tone quality. Inner firmness seems to be more important.
Just rambling aloud, and being provocative.
regards Roger




At 08:54 AM 4/20/01 -0600, you wrote:
>Actually, I draped newspaper over the troughs to inhibit evaporation,
>and the smell/inhalation was minimal. It IS in a public institution of
>fairly recent vintage - rapid air exchange/replacement. 
>	The size/shape of the troughs minimized amount of solvent needed,
>though I used more than a pint (less than a quart).
>	The tonal improvement was immediate, obvious, and stunning. Remembering
>these were true rocks, and there was nowhere to go but up. But just the
>soaking made them sound like real felt hammers, and really quite nice. I
>do need to do a thorough voicing job still, mostly for evenness, but
>it's a good place to start from. 
>	Perk, now that'll turn the brain and neurologic system to mush in no
>time flat. Acetone is nasty, but almost benign in comparison. Definitely
>try to avoid breathing or more than incidental skin contact with either.
>Regards,
>Fred