[CAUT] Self voicing hammers/work hardening

[Ed Sutton]

Leslie-

Get Behlen's Super Blonde Shellac Flakes and a bottle of anhydrous alcohol
at a woodworking supply store.
Get a hypo-oiler at the woodworking store or from Schaff.
Then read my post of May 20th, and Susan's 2 subsequent posts.
Don't mix very much.  The dry flakes will last indefinately, solutions, not.

Ed S.


> [Original Message]
> From: Leslie Bartlett <l-bartlett@sbcglobal.net>
> To: College and University Technicians <caut@ptg.org>
> Date: 5/23/2005 6:17:00 PM
> Subject: RE: [CAUT] Self voicing hammers/work hardening
>
> Where does one get either the flakes, or the lacquer sanding sealer?
>
> Then, is there someone who would risk giving me a short-course in doping
> hammers? I've voiced down, never "up", though if I had about three or four
> questions answered I could probably learn it as I tend to be overly
cautious
> in most things I do, so I have seldom overdone anything...
> les bartlett
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org]On Behalf Of
> Horace Greeley
> Sent: Monday, May 23, 2005 6:03 PM
> To: College and University Technicians
> Subject: Re: [CAUT] Self voicing hammers/work hardening
>
>
>
> 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
>
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