[CAUT] lanolin in hammers

[Fred Sturm]

On Jul 31, 2010, at 1:25 PM, Fred Sturm wrote:

> So far I have tried alcohol (iso and denatured) and acetone, which  
> don't dissolve it; and lacquer thinner and VMP Naphtha, which do,  
> though with a good bit of stirring. Applying this to shoulders of a  
> couple "scrap" old hammers I have around, with similar resistance to  
> needle penetration, is at least somewhat promising.


	I did an experiment with lanolin this week. Monday I tried a solution  
of a good bit of lanolin dissolved in lacquer thinner on the shoulders  
of the original hammers in a 1963 Steinway, hammers I had considered  
"unvoiceable" because the needles wouldn't penetrate, due to too much  
friction. While the solution was wet, needle penetration was quite a  
bit better. A bit squeaky at the bottom (that last couple mm of  
penetration) and with a good bit of resistance to pulling out, but  
much better than dry. So I soaked all the shoulders of all the  
hammers. Today, I tried some sample hammers, and it was like voicing a  
normal hammer. Needles went in and pulled out with relative ease. The  
lanolin solution had no obvious effect on the tone quality by itself -  
or none that I particularly noticed. If there was a change, it was an  
improvement (it didn't seem to need voicing as badly as I thought it  
did Monday, but my ears and perception can easily change that much  
from day to day).
	So I think I may have hit on a winner. I find lanolin much preferable  
to fabric softener, as it is a natural product that was originally in  
the wool before it was processed. I have run across lots of hammer  
sets with this same problem - they aren't all that densely pressed,  
but getting the needles in is just too much of a struggle, and it  
seems to tear the fibers more than spread them if I force the issue.  
Pull out and there is a nice hole the size of the needle, and the tone  
is still constipated. With the lanolin, once the needle is pulled out,  
there is little evidence it was ever in the felt: the felt fibers move  
back.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
fssturm at unm.edu
http://www.createculture.org/profile/FredSturm
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