More square grand advice

[D.L. Bullock]

Call up Ronsen and ask them to make replacements exactly like the originals.
I have done this several times for our obsolete piano restorations.  They
will shape a moulding just like your originals and will shape the felt
exactly like your originals, too.  To get them to bore correctly and carve
the corners off like your originals, you must send them every other hammer
up to the straight bores in the treble.  Looking down at the crown of each
hammer you will see a diamond shape <>

Even though they will shape them, you will need to sand more of the felt off
to get them to all fit.  I usually put every other hammer on and line them
up to the strings.  Then put one at a time on sanding the flat sides off
till the others fit in between.  You will end up with a similar amount of
sanding done on every hammer around the bass curve.  I use my 1" vertical
belt sander for this.  Re aligning to the strings requires more sanding so
do it first.

Do your hammers have the usual leather over the treble hammers?

If your hammers are all layers of leather like some of those small square
piano hammers, you will need to recover the originals.  If you need help
with this contact me.  I have done several sets to great results.

DL Bullock
www.thepianoworld.com



Put the worlds greatest healer to work for WHATEVER health problem you may
have----YOUR OWN IMMUNE SYSTEM.  Your body is capable of healing EVERY
disease if you give it the right fuel.  Visit
http://www.mannapages.com/dlbullock to learn how to get the right fuel.
Also www.glycoscience.org <http://www.glycoscience.org/>


-----Original Message-----
From: Kurt [mailto:KurtGearheart@comcast.net]
Sent: Sunday, October 10, 2004 6:46 PM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: More square grand advice


Thanks everyone for the advice on the 1/0 tuning pin drill bit thread.

I ended up using a "C" on the bass/tenor and a "D" in the treble, it feels
great!

Now, on to hammers.

Existing original 1875 hammers resemble Aeolian spinet hammers, really.

Teeny tiny featherweight things. Shaped mostly more like upright than grand
hammers, but neither really.

Bored at angles that smoothly vary and change 90 degrees from bass to
treble.

Chewed to shreds from the felt shaping to get clearance.

The newly strung piano is LOUD and has very very long sustain.

It seems that not much will be needed activation energy wise.

Suggestions as to delicate-weight quality new hammers for this noble and
ancient beast.

Seriously, it looks like spinet hammers are the closest living relatives of
these.

Are there such things as high-quality not-too-dense spinet hammers?

All suggestions (spinet hammer or otherwise) appreciated.

Thanks in advance.