At 04:04 PM 2/3/2003 -0800, Otto wrote: >The colored shellac on your old hammers (get a reasonable shape on them >first) might be an interesting study, particularly if you started with a >lighter shellac & went to a darker one with each application, tried >different dilutions, application methods, etc.; try them on an action to >see how they sound (easier if you have some already on shanks), Hi, Otto. I have some old Steinway A hammers still on (verdigrised) flanges and shanks, which were only lightly played in a private home. If I repin some of them, they might do the trick. I can try them on the same Steinway (so they should fit), now at an Arts Center I work at, and compare the results with the replacements (Abels, soaked with a very dilute solution of keytop and acetone.) I don't think that the old hammers were at all heavily doped to begin with. 1941 -- I assume that Steinway was probably doping with lacquer at that point. I could try a few of the old hammers with no further juice, just repinned, to see what I was starting with, so I could judge the changes better. Yes, I think that using different colors and dilutions and trying successive layers might be interesting. Also, one could try keytop in acetone and lacquer in lacquer thinner in layers on more of the same set of hammers, and see what happened. It would be fun -- don't hold your breath over how soon I can get around to it. But the box of hammers and shanks can sit there waiting for me. Maybe for once excessive stinginess may prove to be a practical advantage. Susan
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