hammer replacement

[Farrell]

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I would recommend considering replacing the entire =
hammer/shank/knuckle/flange assembly (your pinning is likely all over =
the place anyway, and look at your knuckles - they are likely flattened =
out and all gooped up with graphite or worse things - good pinning and =
new knuckles will go an LONG WAY in improving the performance of that =
action - don't foget to consider action geometry - you may be able to =
improve it further with an improved center-pin to knuckle dimension). =
For my first set of hammers I replaced I dealt with Wally Brooks (Blooks =
LTD - WWBrooks@AOL.COM ). He basically held my hand, told me the few =
things that I needed to do, and he and his crew did the rest. No muss, =
no fuss, excellent results. He will send you back the complete assembly, =
all hammers attached (straight!) and all hammers trimmed/tapered and =
tails shaped real nice. It's not horribly much more cost to replace =
everything - especially considering that you won't be tempted to charge =
your client for the 47 attempts at glueing on the new hammers straight, =
etc. His costs for boring and mounting and shaping the hammers is WAY =
less than what you and I (I have never bored my own hammers, etc. - yet) =
would need to charge to make it worth our time (unless we are looking =
for some education!).

This way, you take off a few sample hammers. Make a few measurements =
(like what Dale Erwin described). Send samples to Wally Brooks. Wait =
week or two. Screw new hammer/shank/flange assemblies on to hammer rail. =
Send Wally money. Easy as that. Unless you are really ready to dive into =
becoming a hammer installation pro - this is the easy way to go while =
still expecting superior results.

IMHO

My first time replacing hammers was with an old Baldwin R. The woman - a =
professional musician - had another tech replace the original hammers a =
couple years ago with some new Yamaha hammers (go figure!). She was very =
unhappy with the results and still had an action that played like a =
truck - I called Wally Brooks and he recommended a set of Abel Lights =
and new shanks/knuckles/flanges. He had me measure the center-pin to =
knuckle dimension of the old parts and he knew right away that the piano =
had bad parts on it. We changed the center-pin to knuckle dimension =
(selected shanks with a shorter dimension) and WOW was the customer =
happy with the results. The piano sounds great and plays great. =
Touchweight went from over 70 grams DW to about 50 grams DW. Wally =
helped me look like I knew what I was doing!

Terry Farrell =20
  ----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Ed Carwithen=20
  To: Piano Tech List=20
  Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2001 10:40 PM
  Subject: hammer replacement


  Dear List.

  I am working on a Hamilton/Baldwin 5' grand.  The owner has decided =
that he wants to replace the hammers due to damage from wine spilled =
into piano.    What am I letting myself in for??  I will get the new =
hammers from Schaff.  They list several weights; 12 lb, 14 lb, 16 lb.  =
Which should I ask for?  They also list a striking distance of 1 7/8, 2" =
and 2-1/8".  The action handbook says a blow distance of 1 7/8", but the =
Schaff catalogue says to "measure from the center of the bore hole to =
the top of the felt, allowing for wear on #88 hammer."  Whoa... what the =
heck does this mean when I have already shaped the hammers and taken off =
felt?

  Ed Carwithen
  John Day =20

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