[CAUT] Self voicing hammers/work hardening

[Horace Greeley]

Barbara, Susan,

You can get very similar response/workability from using lacquer sanding 
sealer, too.  If thinned with acetone to something like 10:1 
(thinner:sanding sealer), multiple applications may be made.  And, it, too, 
breaks down over time.

The only objection I have every heard to using shellac (which I do think 
works very well, and which, historically, is what S&S hammers were hardened 
with in the days when varnish finishes were being used) is that it can 
"discolor" the hammers.  Who cares?  What matters is the tone and response, 
yes?

Best.

Horace


At 01:52 PM 5/23/2005, you wrote:
>Hey Susan,
>
>Great advice--though you'd never have to worry about me lacquering the heck
>out of hammers.  If they call me, this could turn out to be the first
>time in my life I've worked on Steinway hammers that *weren't* lacquered to
>death (but, I'm pretty good at working with the ones that have been!).
>
>By the by, where do you get your shellac flakes--paint store, word working
>store, internet?   I have also experienced the phenomenon of keytop/acetone
>disappearing--maybe because I don't use a strong concentration and/or very
>much of it, either.
>
>Barbara Richmond
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan Kline" <skline@peak.org>
>To: "College and University Technicians" <caut@ptg.org>
>Sent: Monday, May 23, 2005 3:15 PM
>Subject: Re: [CAUT] Self voicing hammers/work hardening
>
>
>>Hi, Barbara
>>
>>Maybe there's an intermediate course to pursue, in between waiting years
>>for playing the
>>Steinway to brighten up the treble, and lacquering the heck out of it,
>>which would
>>make you more trouble later on, and less variety of tone.
>>
>>A local church bought a brand new S&S B (yes! nice donor!!), and they had
>>University
>>piano majors come in and practice on it. Still, the voicing was a little
>>off, erratic,
>>not matching well between registers. When I started looking after it, I
>>filed a dab,
>>gave it hard tunings, and they started playing concerts on it, concerts by
>>pianists
>>who (while classical and unamplified) certainly didn't hold back on
>>volume. In a
>>year or two, it became very pleasant indeed, and without hardeners other
>>than
>>whatever was put in when it arrived. Now, of course, I'm working on duplex
>>zings.
>>
>>Perhaps your church could get people to practice Liszt (or Rachmaninoff or
>>Prokofiev)
>>on it, and you might use a little bit of shellac just behind the strike
>>point in
>>the capo areas if it still seems hopelessly fluffy. The shellac breaks
>>down over
>>time instead of just getting harsher and harsher -- so as the playing in
>>achieves
>>its aims, the shellac bows out. I would use ultra-blonde flakes dissolved
>>in 190 proof
>>ethyl alcohol, so that it dries very fast and the color isn't too
>>obnoxious.
>>A fairly dilute cut. Be sure to keep the bottle closed so that water
>>doesn't
>>get into it from the air. Shelf life isn't indefinite, though longer than
>>the
>>hardware store shellac, which I wouldn't use.
>>
>>Well, ... it might work? Practice with the shellac on a piano with old
>>hammers? It's what I'd
>>think of doing, anyway.
>>
>>Susan
>>_______________________________________________
>>caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives