Susan - Glad to hear of your success using shellac as a voicing tool. I have been using it for more than 6 years with very good results. Try the "super blonde" flakes for introducing less color. When mixing, I just place flakes in a jar, cover with alcohol by a couple inches, and let sit overnight. Then stir well. No need for double boilers unless you're in a hurry. A super low tech way is to set the jar on a box fan that vibrates alot..... the mixture is homogenized in no time! Also, I have found that shellac mixed up fresh from flakes to be good for app. 6 months, although after about 4-5 months I usually pitch it. Mark Potter bases-loaded@juno.com On Fri, 28 Jul 2000 09:08:48 -0700 Susan Kline <sckline@home.com> writes: > Ron's talk about juicing hammers reminds me that maybe > it would be good to relate my own experiments with juicing. > Maybe someone will have some insights on what I've been > doing, or would like to try it themselves and tell us > how it worked. > > I am just slightly kinked when it comes to using toxic > materials. I like to avoid them as much as I can, even > when they aren't really all that bad, and are used in > small quantities. My exception is CA glue, but I only > use a few drops of that at a time. > > So, I'm not keen on keytop in acetone for two reasons: > (1) I hate the spicky sound, and (2) I don't like > breathing acetone, or introducing it into people's houses. > To add to that, I tried just a few drops of fairly weak > keytop solution on a few hammers of my favorite (i.e. -- > ONLY) Baldwin SD-10, and I haven't been able to make > them match the rest of the hammers since. > > Sanding sealer in lacquer thinner: I don't dislike the tone > as much, but lacquer thinner is still not all that nice to > breathe. > > Well, I heard that Steinway used to use shellac on their > hammers, dripping it on from the side. They would stand > the stack on end, and swing the hammers out one at a time, > drip the shellac into them, then turn the stack over, and > do the other side. > > Also, I heard that over time, keytop in hammers will, if > anything, harden, but that eventually under heavy playing, > shellac will break up and get softer, and therefore it is > easier to needle later on. I liked the sound of this. > > I believe that Steinway didn't choose shellac for > esoteric reasons or the search for a perfect voicing > material, but simply because their cases at the time > were finished with shellac. They changed to lacquer > when the case finishers started to use it. In other > words, they would just grab what was at hand. > > So, wanting to try shellac, I bought some ultrablonde > flakes online. ( woodfinishingsupplies.com ) It is > important, with shellac, to make it up fresh, because > over time it gets gummy and won't dry properly. The > flakes are added to alcohol, so <grin> of course, I > used bulk grain alcohol ("Everclear" or "Clear Spring") > from the liquor store. This stuff is 190 proof, so it > has very little water in it. The juice made with it > dries quite quickly. > > I found that to get the flakes to dissolve without > matting at the bottom of the baby food jar I put them > in, I needed to put the jar in a pan of water on the > stove (at "warm") for a few minutes. > > I'm still working out "cut" ... that is, the best weight > of flakes per ounce of alcohol. I just tried a medium > amount, like a not very thick shellac you would use on > furniture or priming a soundboard. > > The drawback of shellac is that it puts little color > in the hammers, which one would have to warn owners about. > I'm going to try the "bleached" shellac later and see if > it is any lighter. However, a side benefit of this drawback > is that one can see exactly where the shellac was used, > and how far it has seeped. > > The leftovers will also make a nice finish on whatever > odd bits of wood you have lying about, and brushes clean > up easily in alcohol. > > For hammers, I put the shellac in an old (clean) dropper > bottle which had held echinacea tincture. Labeled it, of > course. The bottle seals well. I then put it in a ziploc > bag. Of course, it should not be kept long ... after a > couple more weeks I'll toss it and start over. > > I have used it, so far, on the top seven hammers of a > Steinway A (rebuilt) which remained woolly sounding even > after other juicing. I took them off the action (since it > was easier than taking the stack off the keys) one at a > time, dripped the juice into the shoulders from the sides, > put them back on, and waited a few minutes. Then I listened, > and added two or three drops directly to the strike point > of two hammers which remained soft-sounding. This was about > a month ago. > > I saw the piano yesterday. I really like the results. The > hammers were bright but not obnoxious, and were fairly > uniform. The tone blended well with that of the rest of > the piano. I could see a faint beige color on the > hammers, though. > > On this same piano, the first capo section was terribly > bright and zingy. I helped the zingers some by fiddling > with the wire, but it still had too much "tang" sound for > the rest of the piano. So, yesterday, I added a little > vodka to most hammers in the first capo, on the front > shoulder. > > I found it instantly effective, really, too effective. > I may need to juice up the shoulders a little bit later, > though I'll start by using a hammer iron on them. > I didn't add all that much, but more than a couple of drops > may make the tone mushier than one would like. I'm trying > adding it at different places on the shoulders, and if > that doesn't soften enough, putting just a drop or two on > the strike line. I think it works like steam, which it > greatly resembles, but without the nuisance of removing > the action and setting up a kettle, or getting out a > hammer iron and press cloth. No steam burns or hammer > iron burns, either. (Don't ask me how I know about them ...) > > I still need more experience before I can tell how to > reverse the vodka softening, or how it lasts over time. > For now, the tone seems good if a little soft-edged, and > I'm leaving it for about six weeks, to see whether it > brightens with heavy playing, which this piano gets lots > of. The owner tried it, and can take the present (not > extreme) softness in stride. I told him that if it starts > to annoy him, just to say the word and I'll come and iron > them and maybe juice them. > > Vodka does seem much pleasanter than tearing the felt > with needles, though (and no blood on the hammers), > and it won't leave any foreign material (like Downy) > behind. > > Best to all ... corroboration or rebuttal welcome. > > Susan Kline > > >
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