Research:leather covered hammers

[Murray Seminuk]

Hi Diane
It has been a number of years since I did this
 to an older Bosendorfer. The original leather on the hammers was European
doeskin.This is not the same as north american doeskin.The closest leather
is elk skin.When replacing the leather on the hammers care has to be taken
as to where the leather comes from,ie the back or the belly etc. this can
can be quite different as to the thickness and to the direction of the
stretch.Good  luck in your reseach.

Murray Seminuk





----- Original Message -----
From: "Diane Hofstetter" <dianepianotuner@hotmail.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Sunday, December 17, 2000 5:50 AM
Subject: Research:leather covered hammers


> List,
>
>   This is a description of one of my current research projects and of the
> personal reasons it has become a vital interest to me at this time.
>
>   I am 54, my partner is 67.  I always knew he would probably die before
me,
> but my feeble brain never realized that he might spend a long time before
he
> did so in a state of not being able to work and needing my care, so that I
> frequently can't work either.  I had a hint of that in 1993 when he had a
> heart attack, but he bounced back from triple bypass surgery very quickly
> and I stuck my head back into the sand again.  Then last October he had a
> stroke and everything changed.
>
>   Now we are very dependent on our fleet of rental pianos to pay our basic
> living expenses, which they almost do.  But it is getting harder and
harder
> to keep them up to the level of quality that I desire.  Before my father
and
> he would do the tunings in the home after they were delivered and I would
do
> all the reconditioning in the shop and the bookkeeping for our businesses.
>
>   So there I was shaping a set of hammers from a rental last night and
> remembering something I have wondered for years. Whenever I have rebuilt
an
> antique grand with leather covered hammers, I have been amazed to see what
> good shape most of the hammers are in on 150 year old pianos--after
removing
> the destroyed leather.  Why I thought, couldn't there be some kind of
covers
> for rental piano hammers?  If there was something that lasted only half as
> long as those leather covered hammers I would be _way_ ahead.
>
>   Meanwhile I have a customer who wants me to replace the leather on the
> hammers of his mid-19th century Bosendorfer.  He wants it so bad that last
> time I tuned he produced a chamois that he had purchased for the purpose
and
> asked me to cover them with it.  We tried it on one hammer and it didn't
> sound any good.
>
>   I now have a beautiful, soft, supple deerskin which sounded wonderful on
> the Pokorney we rebuilt last Christmas and am wondering about putting it
on
> his hammers.  Also there are questions about how to voice leather once
it's
> on the hammers.
>
>   Then there is the old Chickering upright that just came back from a
rental
> customer which needs new hammers badly.  It was restrung 10 years ago, but
> the hammers are fried.  So I shaped them one last time and am going to
cover
> them with deerskin to find out how they sound before replacing them.
>
>   But is deerskin the best leather?  Is there any other material that
might
> be better than any leather?  Would there be any material that would apply
to
> the hammers easier and quicker?  Would there be any material that could be
> put on the hammers temporarily to completely change the voicing for just
one
> concert?  Perhaps a material that could be clipped on for the rock concert
> and a different one for the classical concert?
>
>   How could we measure the tonal differences of different materials?  How
> would we know their life expectancy?  How would we even find out about
> materials that might be just perfect but they are used to build private
> airplanes and we aren't even pilots, much less airplane manufacturers?
>
>   These are questions I find interesting for their own sake and for the
> practical need I have in my business.  I will pursue the research project.
> My guess is that there are many other such questions burning in others'
> brains.  Can pianotech be a place where such research projects could be
> shared?
>
>   Diane
>
>
> Diane Hofstetter
> 245-M Mount Hermon Rd.#343
> Scotts Valley, CA 95066
> ph  831-438-6222
> fax 831-430-9741
> dianepianotuner@hotmail.com
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
>
>