Winter Console Hammer Delima

[Wimblees@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 98-11-14 21:17:53 EST, you write:

<< If you try to glue back the hammer felt, you can never match the 
 pressure and tension which was there in the original manufacturing of 
 the hammer. Therefore the tone will not be there for you. You have the 
 option of replacing the hammer or two, but again the tone probably will 
 not match and the appearance would not be the same. My advice in this case
 would actually be to reglue the hammers, reshape them along with the rest,
 and then use lacquer or keytop solution to restore the density. Keytop 
 in solution of Acetone works fairly well because it dries rapidly. If the
 surface of the hammer is too hard, you can use straight acetone to  
 soften the surface a bit. Trial and error is in order here. Using needles
 to take down the density afterwards will not work the same as it would 
 on non treated hammers. For one thing, the hammers will not have much
 internal tension. You will probably be reduced to using the solution and 
 then washing with acetone if you over-do the solution. If these damaged
 hammers are in the high treble area (the usual case), you can soak the
 entire hammer with the solution, then lightly brush the surface with the
 acetone.
 
 Jim Coleman, Sr.
  >>


Jim:

With all due respect to your excellent post regrding glueing hammer felt back
on the moulding, don't forget that this is happening on a Winter Console. In
other words, you get what you pay for. I realize that you want to do as good a
job as possible on every piano in which you come in contact, but the problem
wouldn't have been there in the first place if the manufacturer would have
done the job better in the first place. 

Willem