hammers

[Allen Wright]

Richard,

When I replaced the hammers on a Baldwin L a few months ago Renner was 
nice enough to send me a copy of the original factory specs (ca. 1956) 
for hammer boring (76 degrees 1-20, 80 degrees 21-34, etc. etc.). I 
graduated the bore angle rather than make it jump in segments, but 
still it was interesting to have the original specs on hand to consider 
and tweak as necessary or preferred. It also gave the boring distance 
for bass and treble.

I also have a very interesting copy of the Steinway specs for their 
hammers (all models). It's a side-view drawing of note #1 hammer, the 
last bass hammer, first treble hammer, and note #88 hammer, and which 
shows the putative boring dimensions, overall length of their hammers, 
shape of the tail coving, etc. This document is (by coincidence) also 
from 1956. Factory hammers that I've bought over the last decade or so 
match these profiles remarkably accurately: I suppose because the same 
hammer press has been used (I can hear some Steinway skeptics groaning 
in disbelief). This spec sheet doesn't give recommended boring angles, 
however.

This isn't quite the "published list" you're wondering about, but I 
mention them by way of making the point that these sorts of documents 
are out there. It would be interesting if (as you suggest) they could 
be put together in one place so that rebuilders could refer to them. We 
might not necessarily abide by the specs, but it would be good to know 
exactly what we're respectfully disagreeing with. Sort of like the old 
book of regulation specs we all referred to when we were first starting 
to regulate.

I suppose I could scan these if anyone is interested. Never sent 
anything I've scanned before but I could probably figure it out!

Allen Wright
Cincinnati, Ohio
(Northern Kentucky University)
On Friday, March 12, 2004, at 12:17  PM, Richard West wrote:

> Hello, All,
>
> Does anyone know of a published list of hammer angles for a variety of 
> popularly rebuild pianos, i.e. Steinway, M&H, Baldwin, etc.?  I've 
> replaced several set of hammers over the years and have always 
> wondered what the factory specs were for bass hammer angle, and the 
> fan of the tenor to treble hammers.  I've just always bored hammers to 
> match what I find on the particular piano I might be working on.
>
> Richard West, University of Nebraska
>
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