As I am juicing these hammers, I was wondering what devices you folks use to apply it? I have a little bottle with a needle tip that works but drips...I know one fellow who uses old Elmers Glue bottles... David I. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Horace Greeley" <hgreeley@stanford.edu> To: <caut@ptg.org> Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2001 3:28 PM Subject: Re: filing the Steinway hammers (was Kissin) > > Hi, Ed, Jon, et al, > > At 09:23 AM 1/10/2001 -0500, you wrote: > > jon writes: > > > ><<The older hammers filed with ease, was that due to shellac in the hammer or > >lacquer or a better hammer making process. I bet the later.>> > > > >I generally autopsy hammers before I throw them away, and have cut open a lot > >of older Steinway hammers. I don't see evidence of hardener in there before > >the 1950's. I know, they say that the hammers have always had a hardener > >put in them, but I don't believe that. A 1930 bass hammer, when cut open > >and the felt worked back and forth until it frays, doesn't seem to have > >anything in there at all, and soaking the pieces with alcohol doesn't seem to > >change anything, which it would do if there was shellac imbedded in the felt. > > The autopsy is a really good thing to do. And, in general, I agree with Ed > about hardener; although, I have seen some hammer sets from C&A instruments > from the period which seemed to have shellac in them. At the same time, I > do not think that this was normal retail practice. > > > I think the new hammers are made from felt that is cut poorly, allowing > > the > >felting layers to be so non-continuous that when taken out of the cauls, any > >attempt to shape them will, like as not, follow a "grain" line directly into > >the hammer instead of following the contour around the edges. I remember the > >Yamaha hammers of the the late '70's vintage doing much the same thing, even > >though they were harder to begin with. Anybody else got ideas? > > Not only is the felt poorly cut, it is processed very differently. The > wool is left in acid longer, which breaks down the longer, more curly > fibers that used to be so prevalent in older hammers (roughly pre-1955/56 > Wickert felt). So, the fibers themselves, while being more uniform, and > more easily felted, do not produce the same felt as was possible > previously. In shaping them, one has to establish, in a sense, not the > grain, but the acceptable shape of the hammer. Just-from-the-press does > not work well. > > > I don't mind adding lacquer to the new Steinway hammers before I do > >anything else, I haven't seen a new set in years that didn't ultimately need > >more than I thought possible. Our new ones at Vanderbilt have the professors > >gnashing teeth,(after all this IS Gnashville!), and bewailing the deadness of > >their new pianos. I have been holding back adding any more lacqer, hoping > >that a semester or two will bring the hammers up, but I had to harden one set > >on the direct request of a teacher. I hardened the shoulders with two > >eyedropper fulls of the 4:1 and it made a little difference. She was > >thrilled. I hope that it will just speed up the break-in and not leave us > >with a real twanger next year. > > I agree that I have not seen anything (in probably nearly 30 years) that > did not really need some kind of hardening. At the same time, I do prefer > to shape before adding any hardener. > > The newer instruments will need hardening. Simple. The amount is going to > vary with each situation. In some cases, 4:1 (lacquer thinner:lacquer) is > the right thing to use. In others, perhaps thinner combinations, or use of > lacquer sanding sealer or shellac is appropriate or more reasonable. I > certainly use, but prefer not to use, acetone as a carrier as it evaporates > too quickly, wicking whatever hardening agent to the edges and/or leaving > "lumps". Ditto for keytop - which was originally goniffed from European > makers by Chris Arena (while he was working in the service department at > Steinway Hall). In this latter iteration, it was applied only very thinly > to bring up "highlights" on specific instruments which were part of pending > sales. The lamentable and annoying progression from this light usage into > the concert basement is a misuse of the technique. > > Best. > > Horace > > > ********************************************* > Horace Greeley, CNA, MCP, RPT > Systems Analyst/Engineer > Controller's Office, Stanford University > 651 Serra St., RM 100 > Stanford, CA 94305 > > Voice: 650.725.9062 > Fax: 650.725.8014 > ********************************************* > >
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