Renner lite and the Needles

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Ed,

Doesn't it seem like it might be easier to start with a somewhat more resilient hammer to start with. I've gone through the
same process too many times in recent years. Nowadays, when I get hammers like this, I don't want to use them. I want to send
them back. Doesn't 10 hours of prep time just to get ready to voice a set of new hammers seem a bit excessive? Given the
circumstances, I'm not sure how you could shorten this time with those hammers. But really...

This has, unfortunately, been my experience with most Renner hammers. Many recent Abel's as well. Hammers from both companies
are nicely shaped, have beautifully consistent widths, and show all the signs of excellent "quality control." They're just
way too hard and dense and come with little or no resiliency. (To be honest, I've not used any Renner hammers for several
years now, though I'd like to. Have they changed recently?)

Forget the "Lite" hammers, what I want to see are Renner "Resilient" hammers. It can be done. The basic hammer making
technology is not all that complicated.

-- ddf

A440A@aol.com wrote:

> Greetings all,  (Season's greetings, as it is Turkey eve......)
>
>       There was little response on the Renner Lite hammers,  (remember, I had
> a set that was hard as rocks......)
>       Well, the chipping and tuning is over, the regulation has been done
> twice, and the hammers have just begun to produce what I was looking for.
>  For those that may wonder what was involved, I will list the approximate
> voicing procedure that got me close to what I wanted.
>
>      I voice in three stages, and the first stage is a lot like Braid-White
> suggests,  i.e.  primary preparation is done with needles 1/2" long, and they
> are fully driven into the shoulders parallell with the core.
>      This set of hammers  first took, on average,  20 full length needles on
> each shoulder.  Beginning as far away from the crown as I could go and still
> keep the needle in the felt,  the needling was done in rows of 4 stabs,
> approaching the crown but stopping approx 1/4" away from top dead center.
>  This was the amount necessary to hear a difference in the tone from an
> untreated hammer. ( In the beginning, I leave one hammer per octave alone, in
> order to tell what is happening, I do go back and do them later)
>      Following the initial loosening, I  give the hammers a day or two to
> relax, then I follow the basic pattern the Rick Baldassin suggests, i.e.,
> letting the angle of needle become more perpendicular to the core.  I don't
> needle quite as deep from this point, but I do like a spongy shoulder, so
> there is also approx 10 needles to a depth of 70% of the felt from this
> angle.
>      After the two previous needlings,  I had the hammers still brassy, but
> exhibiting a nice change of tone between ppp and FFF.  However, the
> brilliance was still happening too soon, and the piano felt a little too
> sensitive, as well as not having that real velvety sound, nor a lot of floor
> shaking fundamental.
>    A single needle is usually able, at this point, to tell you the condition
> of the hammer core, so the last step is creating that   resilency between the
> outer surface and the rock hard felt that sits right at the tip of the
> molding.  I think this is where the hard part of the voicing occurs.
>       With the shoulders soft, and the felt between core and string arranged
> in a graduated range of hardness, that single needle will steer the tone
> around in a most profound way. I tend to be quite careful at this stage, as
>  by now, I have over $220 invested, as well as slightly more than10 hours of
> prep, so it is time to be careful.
>    Presently, the hammer are showing a lot of range.  I have to say that
> these are not like the premium Blue hammer. They are much more like the
> Japanese Imadagawa hammers, but with enough needles they do loosen up.
>    Regards,
> Ed Foote
> Precision Piano Works
> Nashville, Tn