Pianotek does sell a "Hammer Softener" (formula inknown to me) and as far as I know does not recommend VSProfelt for hammers. Chris Solliday ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ed Sutton" <ed440 at mindspring.com> To: <caut at ptg.org> Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 11:00 AM Subject: Re: [CAUT] VS Profelt > Nick's formula was made of fabric softener and rubbing alcohol, which is > about 30% water. he called for liberal soaking into the shoulders. I used it > successfully for a while, until I applied it to a set of new Baldwin > hammers. As I got to note 88 I looked back and watched as the hammers went > "pop" up the scale. > As for VSP, I wonder about the wisdom of applying even tiny amounts of > silicone to a hammer surface that contacts wound strings. Silicone likes to > travel, and the inpacts and vibrations should give it plenty of help. I > worked in a school where my predecessor believed in applying silicone to the > bridges "to help the strings slide." All of the bass strings were dead on > those pianos. > Ed S. > > Fred wrote: > > I got some unscented fabric softener (hard to find), and will do a bit of > > experimentation on things like hard dampers and hammers. As I wrote in an > > earlier post, Nick Gravagne swore by alcohol and fabric softener for > > those rock hard hammers. I never got around to trying. For dampers, I > > would try more water in the formulation. Certainly the silicone is > > useless for both applications. > > At $12 a quart, VSP is too pricey for my wallet unless it turns out to be > > very extra special indeed, if I can buy a lifetime supply of softener for > > $5, and use either powdered teflon or Protek for lubrication. I'll be > > trying it out to see whether it out-performs "homebrew." Or steaming and > > heated cauls for key bushings. > > Regards, > > Fred Sturm > > University of New Mexico > > fssturm at unm.edu > > > > > > > >
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