Hammer softening

[Dean May]

>>My guess is that the poisonous methanol is added so that people should die
drinking it rather than forgo paying a tax on their buzz.

 

Indeed, the unspoken lethal threat on all of our tax "collections" exhibited
more self-consciously on our alcoholic beverages: pay or you die. At average
total taxation rates now of near 50% how high must it get before we conclude
we are no longer free? Historically anything higher than 20% is slavery. But
we are so ever grateful for the miniscule breaks we get on those IRA's. Too
bad they are so complicated that a simple inquiry on this list generates a
dozen different answers. 

 

Dean

Dean May             cell 812.239.3359 

PianoRebuilders.com   812.235.5272 

Terre Haute IN  47802

  _____  

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Gary Fluke
Sent: Friday, October 05, 2007 1:13 PM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Re: Hammer softening

 

Dean,

 

Yours is a good question.  Of course, isopropyl alcohol is available in drug
stores everywhere.  Most of it seems to be somewhere at around 70% strength,
the rest water.  I bought a quart of Denatured Alcohol at Home Depot and
used that.  Somewhere in the cautionary notes on the can it said it
contained methanol.  Here is American Heritage's Dictionary definition of
Denatured Alcohol:

 

"Ethyl alcohol to which a poisonous substance, such as acetone or methanol,
has been added to make it unfit for consumption." 

 

I used the Denatured Alcohol on the piano because I had yet to learn the
definition of Denatured Alcohol.  Also, the precautionary note on the can
said "contains methanol". 

 

I used it on a piano I own so that if there was a problem, it wouldn't
become a customer's problem.  So, it turns out that, on a Kawai UST-5
anyway, the ethyl alcohol works great.

 

My guess is that the poisonous methanol is added so that people should die
drinking it rather than forgo paying a tax on their buzz.

 

 

Gary Fluke

 

 

 

----- Original Message ----- 

From: Dean <mailto:deanmay at pianorebuilders.com>  May 

To: 'Pianotech List' <mailto:pianotech at ptg.org>  

Sent: Friday, October 05, 2007 5:34 AM

Subject: RE: Hammer softening

 

I am going to try this. Can any of the chemists comment on substituting a
different kind of alcohol? Everclear could be easier to get, or Isopropyl. 

 

Dean

Dean May             cell 812.239.3359 

PianoRebuilders.com   812.235.5272 

Terre Haute IN  47802

 

 


  _____  


From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Michael Kurta
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2007 5:58 PM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Re: Hammer softening

    Hi Gary:

    This is a direct quote from the Baldwin service manual:

    "For a Softer Tone:  A mixture of 25% water and 75% methanol can be
applied to the hammers to produce a mellower tone in Baldwin hammers.  Care
should be taken not to apply to stapled areas.  The solution can be applied
to the shoulders for moderate changes or to the strike point for more severe
changes.  It is recommended in most cases not to apply the solution to the
top octave and lowest octave since these areas usually require more tone
accentuation to be musically pleasing.  It takes about 20-30 minutes for the
solution to work.  Fine voicing can then be performed with shallow needling
to the hammers as needed to provide a consistent note to note tone."

    I've used this solution for years and found it to work well.

Methanol BTW, is non-permanent anti-freeze and can sometimes be found at
farm supply stores.  Its also found in windshield washer fluid, but I'm not
sure what else is in there and the proportion of water to methanol.

 

    Mike Kurta, Syracuse chapter  

    Mike Kurta, Syracuse chapter

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20071005/5cc5492c/attachment.html