reducing hammer weight

[David Love]

As JD pointed out, a 1/8" hole will not yield a reduction in weight of
anything near 1.5 grams.  In the case below I would order the set unbored so
that you can use the table saw method of reducing the weight with a full end
to end taper-especially if you are routinely having to remove that much from
the set that high up.  

David Love
davidlovepianos at comcast.net
www.davidlovepianos.com 
-----Original Message-----



From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Mark Dierauf
Sent: Tuesday, September 09, 2008 5:11 AM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Re: reducing hammer weight

1.5 grams from a 1/8" hole? What are the moldings made from? I mostly use
Steinway hammers and a hole that size barely makes a difference. In the
example pictured, the more aggressive coving netted me about .3g max, and I
then had to taper the sides to get the additional .5g that I needed for this
hammer. I do this freehand on a stationary belt sander. By using the part of
the sander that curves around the end roller it is possible to hourglass the
sides of the hammer without removing anything at the crown or making the
tails so narrow that they chew up the backchecks. The reason I start with
the coving is that if you try to get a full gram on the beltsander then this
hourglassing begins to become visually prominent.

- Mark Dierauf


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