Pianotek Hammer Softener

[David Porritt]

On Sun, 9 Apr 1995 t.seay@mail.utexas.edu wrote:

> >Does anyone have experience using the clear liquid  hammer softener sold by
> >Pianotek?
> >If so, how long does it take to work?  How much do you usually use? Does
> >it perform differently on some hammers i.e Steinway, Baldwin, Renner, etc.
> >Do the results last very long with heavy use of the piano afterwards?
> >
> >Susan Willanger RPT
>
> Hi Susan,
>
> I don't have any experience with the Pianotek product you described, but
> you can make a very serviceable (and inexpensive) hardener yourself with
> materials you may have on hand.
>
> I would suggest combining 1 part _undiluted_ sanding sealer with 10 parts
> acetone. Apply one or two drops directly on the crown of the hammesr and
> brush their tops lightly with a suede brush when they are completely dry,
> which will be in a matter of minutes. The acetone, which evaporates
> quickly,  acts only as a carrier and deposits the small amount of sanding
> sealer down into the crown. Brushing will remove any crust left over from
> the sanding sealer. If you wish to, you can decrease the ratio of acetone
> to sanding sealer to achieve a more dramatic result, but this 10-to-1 ratio
> works very well for us at UT. We use this method on NY Steinway hammers,
> Renner Premium Blues, and Ronson's with equally good results.
>
> Good luck!
>
>
>
> Tom Seay
> The Unversity of Texas at Austin
>
> t.seay@mail.utexas.edu
>
>

Actually the orriginal post was a question about a hammer "softener"
rather than "hardner."  I have never used the one from Protech but you can
make some good softener with 1 part of "Snuggle" fabric softener and 7
parts of isopropyl alcohol.

Dave Porritt, RPT
SMU - Dallas