[CAUT] lanolin in hammers

[Zeno Wood]

Interesting.  What sort of lanolin, and how much did you apply?

Thanks!


On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 3:26 PM, Fred Sturm <fssturm at unm.edu> wrote:

> 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
> http://www.youtube.com/fredsturm
> http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/FredSturm
>
>
>
>
>
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