Alcohol and hard hammers

[Roger Jolly]

Hi Geoff,
                     I DO NOT  advise using a steam kettle, one of my 
reasons for writing the article in the Journal, a few years ago, was that 
there is very little control, and very inconsistent results.
Give me you address off list and I will send you a reprint copy.
Alcohol and water tends to deform the hammer shape and you can very quickly 
ruin a set of hammers, unless you have some voicing experience.
If you do not have an electric voicing iron, you can get the same results 
using the tip of a clothes iron, it's just a little more difficult to work 
with.
Regards Roger



At 11:55 PM 9/14/2006, you wrote:
>Of course! I'd forgotten about the vice-grip trick. But wait, there's 
>more. I'm so glad that this list has an archive. After reading Alan's 
>reply I did a search on both vice grip voicing and steam voicing and was 
>rewarded with some very informative and helpful ideas. Including the 
>suggestion of an 8 to 1 alcohol to fabric softener treatment from 1995. 
>Steaming the hammer, quickly, was the all around preferred method of 
>dealing with extraordinarily hard hammers. I think I'll pick up a little 
>electric tea kettle on my way in tomorrow morning and give steam a chance 
>first before resorting to the vice grip method. I almost feel like I'm 
>about to perform a magic trick.
>
>Thanks to all --
>
>-- Geoff Sykes
>-- Assoc. Los Angeles
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On 
>Behalf Of Alan R. Barnard
>Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 8:28 PM
>To: pianotech at ptg.org
>Subject: RE: Alcohol and hard hammers
>
>I'd be leaping on those puppies with my modified Vice-grips (a la Wally 
>Brooks) followed by a lightly damp rag and the back side of my voicing 
>iron, i.e., steam.
>
>The needle-in-a-Dremmel works well.
>
>I'd try all those things before spending a day trying to, as one put it, 
>"split hickory knots using a corn dodger as a wedge and a pumpkin for a 
>mallet."
>
>A quote for Texans: "The universal food of the people of Texas, both rich 
>and poor, seems to be corn-dodger and fried bacon."  Frederick Law 
>Olmsted, 'A Journey Through Texas' (1856)
>
>Alan Barnard
>Salem, MO
>Joshua 24:15
>
>
>
>
>
>
>----------
>Original message
>From: "Geoff Sykes"
>To: "Pianotech at Ptg. Org"
>Received: 09/14/2006 8:09:38 PM
>Subject: Alcohol and hard hammers
>
>Tomorrow I have to go up against a new, out of the box, upright piano with 
>ROCK hard hammers. I have been asked to voice the hammers down 
>significantly in order to reduce the unpleasant brittle harsh cold sound. 
>Last time I had to do this I just aggressively needled away for a long 
>time. Very aggressively with lots of broken needles. Even after I was 
>"finished" I was still unable to get a needle in more than about 1mm.
>
>Not too long ago, on the list, I read that treating hard hammers with a 
>little alcohol would help un-compact the felt. However, these are new 
>hammers and are probably hard because of a hardening treatment. Today's 
>question is: Would a small alcohol treatment help? If not, what would you 
>suggest?
>
>-- Geoff Sykes
>-- Assoc. Los Angeles
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